Cootamundra Experiences

How can a place that is famous for its cold weather leave you feeling incredibly warm and fuzzy? I had the wonderful pleasure of spending my week long placement in the small town of Cootamundra with the Fry family. Stacey and Dan and their four beautiful children welcomed me into their home and kindly took me on a week long tour of medicine in a NSW rural practice. I was given opportunities to put theory into practice, to challenge myself, and to develop relationships with a really wide range of people.

My first day started with a round of the Cootamundra nursing home, where Dr Dan Fry introduced me to some of his patients who were now residing in the town’s aged care facility. There is a unique continuation of care in small country towns that I was really able to appreciate in Cootamundra. In this community, there is the potential for a General Practitioner to be present at the births, deaths and significant life moments of one family. It is a very unique privilege to develop such a connection with someone, and something that would definitely be something that I would absolutely cherish if I am lucky enough to be a rural GP one day.

On Tuesday we spent a busy day at the surgery, starting with a rounds of the hospital and some discussions with the nurses about care options for a few patients. We then walked over to the clinic, where we spent a busy day seeing a wide range of patients. People came to see Dr Fry for so many more reasons than to get a clinical diagnosis - often their visits were full of moments where they were seeking advice on important aspects of their lives and even work. This was a fantastic learning experience for me, as I have begun to appreciate that medicine is about having a heart as much as it is about having a brain. We need to listen to people - how else can we find out about the determinants in their life that have such a direct impact on their health? Over the week, the clearer this became to me, the more passionate I felt about rural medicine.

Wednesday was another fantastic day - with one of the patients presenting with 28 week old twins. I have to say, this was definitely a highlight of the week for me, as we have just finished a term studying Beginnings Growth and Development at UNSW - so it was a real treat to be able to actually palpate the young woman’s abdomen. We had a lovely lunch at the local pub where I tried a very interesting Cauliflower and Four Cheese’s soup, and then we had a tour of the town. Before         the sun set, we went for an energetic walk through the paddock of bushland opposite the Fry home. It was glorious to see the pink and orange hues  of the sunset over the bushland. In the evening I joined Stacey for some Muay Thai - which was fantastic! I really enjoyed the experience of doing some martial arts - it was rewarding and enriching. I was told that it was a great way to burn off any frustration! Not that I actually had any to be honest, but it was definitely a very relaxing and exciting experience.

Thursday morning was spent seeing patients, but in the afternoon I was able to visit the speech pathologist and spend time with her. I found that engaging with the other specialities in the practise was a real highlight. Often it’s easy to forget that medicine would not work if there wasn't a team approach - there would be no such thing as good quality patient care. There are not many opportunities to get a good understanding of what everyone in the medicine team does though, and so I was very grateful to learn more about the roles of nurses, midwives and speech pathologists at the Cootamundra Health Clinic.

The final day was quite busy - and so it was a chance for me to appreciate how concise and to the point that a GP has to be a times, but at the same time maintaining great interest in each patient and ensuring that their needs are fully addressed, as Dr Fry does every time. There are so many valuable lessons that I have learnt from my time in Cootamundra, and many important moments of piecing together different pieces of information. Dr Fry taught me a lot about how medicine brings together so many different people from wide and varied paths together. He also showed me how one can keep their humanity - sometimes we lose who we really are when we get caught up in medicine textbooks and procedures. What made my time in Cootamundra so special was the people that I met; they showed me such genuine warmth and care, making my stay an absolute pleasure and a true highlight of my mid-year holidays.