Name: Jacob Ross
Year level: 4 (final)
University: Flinders University
Location: Port Augusta RFDS base, Airport Rd, Port Augusta West SA 5700
What did you do on your rural GP placement?
During my time with the RFDS, I flew to remote South Australian communities in Cook,
Oak Valley, Yalata, Marla, Oodnadatta and Maree (see map), and met amazing doctors
and nurses for whom these long hops were 'part of the weekly round.' What amazed me most of all was how quickly I was welcomed as a team member. Inclusiveness, a flat
hierarchy and teamwork were the ethos of everyone I worked with. When I wasn’t flying, I took part in GP clinics in Port Augusta with Dr Andrew Killcross (Senior Medical
Practitioner at the Port Augusta RFDS Base) and attended a hands-on advanced airway
management training day put on by Dr Tim Leeuwenburg (of kidocs.org fame).
Flying over vast stretches of country brought home the challenges faced by rural doctors in providing medical care to widely spread communities. This was where the marvels of
modern medical interventions could be undone by vast distances and travel times, and by the lack of equipment usually at the fingertips of doctors in city hospitals. The value of an accurate history, thorough physical examination and clear diagnostic reasoning are really brought home when they are your only tools.
Tell us about your mentors & the clinic environment
Dr Andrew Killcross is the Senior Medical Practitioner at the RFDS Base at the Port
Augusta airport and originally hails from Manchester UK. He practices alongside, and
coordinates the activities of base GPs and GP registrars within the RACGP and ACRRM
training colleges. There is a dynamic and friendly team of doctors, flight nurses, midwives, mental health nurses and other allied health professionals that make regular
multidisciplinary GP clinic flights to remote areas in SA. The base couldn’t function
without the team of engineers, pilots and flight coordinators that services the needs of
both MedSTAR and the RFDS. I was invited to observe and learn about all aspects of base activities and felt very welcomed from the moment I arrived.
When not running GP clinics in the remote regions of SA, Dr Killcross also holds a clinic at the 'The Old Base Medical Centre’ adjacent to the Port Augusta hospital, where he is
happy for medical students to participate. Dr Killcross was also very supportive of my
research interests, giving me the flexibility to present my work at a conference, and
making sure there were always opportunities to engage in several clinical options on days with no clinic flights.
Together, Dr Killcross and his wife, Port Augusta City Councillor and environmental
advocate Lisa Lumsden and their two sons, six-year-old Lachie and four-year-old Hamish, are active members of the Port Augusta community, and a force for environmental and community health.
Give us a quick rundown of the town - what is there to see / do / eat & drink
Port Augusta, population 13,000, is located 322 km north of Adelaide and is the genuine
'Crossroads of Australia' – highways and railways roll west across the Nullarbor into WA,
north to the Flinders Ranges, Alice Springs or Darwin, south to Adelaide or Port Lincoln,
and east to Sydney. Not a bad position!
Port Augusta is not too far from the spectacular Flinders Ranges, where you can climb
Mount Remarkable for some amazing views of the region, see the natural amphitheatre
of Wilpena Pound, or experience arid outback Australia. Being at the northern tip of the
Spencer Gulf, Port Augusta is also within striking distance of Port Lincoln, a seafood,
fishing and coastal adventure playground.
City councillor Lisa Lumsden has worked with the community group 'Repower Port
Augusta' for the last seven years to support the successful bid for a 150MW solar thermal power plant by US company SolarReserve, which will be operational by 2020. The $650 million solar thermal power plant is set to be a critical component of SA’s power needs.
Solar thermal technology, which uses mirrors to concentrate sunlight at the top of a
tower, heating molten salt used to operate a steam turbine, could eventually replace
coal-fired energy. Port Augusta and the surrounding regions are among the best spots in
Australia for harnessing and distributing both wind and solar energy, due to their skilled
workforce and grid connections as a legacy of the coal-fired plants.
What did you find most rewarding about your rural rotation / placement?
I really enjoy working in a busy hospital environment but being part of a large clinical
team means that it is sometimes difficult to see patients that aren’t tired of being
examined and questioned by many other students. In a rural setting, there are more
opportunities to assess undifferentiated patients, negotiate parallel consulting of patients in a GP context, and see a wide variety of GP and emergency presentations. The
opportunity to be part of a smaller team comes with the responsibility of being more
hands-on, and the benefit of receiving consultant feedback on clinical skills and
knowledge that can remain untested and less developed in larger teams with greater
numbers of interns, junior RMOs, registrars and fellows.
From antenatal appointments, unwell babies and adolescent health, to managing chronic illness in older people, and everything in-between, rural medicine offers a diversity of clinical experiences that are difficult to find in the specialised medicine practiced in urban hospitals. I was able to see the same patient on more than one occasion during my placement, highlighting the importance of continuity of care and giving me a sense of the patient’s journey through the healthcare system, and in the self-management of their health.
Why would you encourage others to complete a rotation / placement rurally?
Smaller hospitals mean fewer students, and this is by far the biggest learning advantage
you will have if you choose to go rural. My time with the RFDS showcased the advantages of working away from the tertiary hospitals: more autonomy, an emphasis on teamwork and communication, and the chance to get involved with some really interesting clinical care. To be a part of the service linking the huge waiting room that is rural Australia with regional medical facilities and major metro hospitals was an experience I’ll never forget.
My rural placement coincided perfectly with my application for internship. I preferenced
the Northern Gulf Eyre regional training hub, which will host interns in the Whyalla, Port
Augusta and Port Lincoln hospitals for the very first time next year and was extremely
lucky to be offered one of the five available spots for 2019. I convinced my partner that
this was our next adventure, and in January 2019 we'll be off to the country!
Port Augusta (map)
