Nature of medicine+ nature of rural medicine

Question 1

roles of doctor

Answer 1

Doctors have a very broad roles, 4 of them being____

1) Clinician
patient interface
dealing with/ managing patient care

2) researcher
engage in scientific debate, + contribute to health literature + expand knowledge within realm of health

3) health advocate
good lifestyle habits= acts as a role model to the community+ public endorsing eg. vaccination

4) mentor
multidisciplinary teams - pass on knowledge, cooperate, people under you - wellbeing learning
senior doctor mentors junior doctors ect.

Question 2

challenges of medicine

Answer 2

1)Dealing with complex patients

Don’t always have good outcomes (deterioration, sickness, emotion of families)
Great deal of responsibility (did i miss something, am i doing enough, “is it doing them good”)
(emotional toll)

2)Social challenges

Doesn’t suit the typical 9-5 role (birth), its unpredictable, great deal of sacrifice
Affects social life - the career (weigh it up)

3)personal challenges

Have an outlet (sport, music, whatever)
Always learning to be had
Continued professional development
Staying up to date
Never stops (current research - “look at covid for example” etc)

Question 3

monash’s focus in regional areas

Answer 3

Rural Affiliations
Churchill, Bendigo, Mildura, Warragul, Gippsland, Sale

Question 4

attractions of rural medicine

Answer 4

1)Broad-hands on
( unique approach to medicine) -lack in doctors t/f must do a lot themselves+ can advance their careers further

2)peace and quiet
livable area+( personal experience as a child= more carefree fun environment with open fields(less condense))

3)financial incentive
entices more doctors to the area h/w not purely financial (personal experience in rural town) the communities= warm welcoming +open –> form social bonds with community

Question 5

how to improve rural health

Answer 5

access
improve access to these primary health care faciclities through governemnt funding which assists improve the public transport system + building of more primary health care facilities.
Telehealth for those very remote and travel distance too far

doctor shortages
short term:fix this issue through financial incentive( + not purely (PERSONAL))
long term:fix this issue through bonded medical program

specialist training facilities/educational
increase health literacy so communities can take better approach to theri health: reactive vs preventitive

increase specialist training for rural doctors since not many specialists available hence doctors= more borad role and can cover more issues

Question 6

why doctor shortage

Answer 6

1) far from family hence less SUPPORT NETWORK
which is needed to cope with BURNOUT
2)less research facilities
this is a role of doctors hence cannot advance CAREERS as much
3) less health care facilities hence more difficult+ different and more broad and challenging scope of medicine
4)not familiar with rural medicine

Question 7

improve doctor shortage

Answer 7

1)Financial incentive
2)Another solution could be to increase the number of rural clinical placements that medical
students do. In year 2, medical students complete a 1 week rural placement near the end of the year before applying for either a metro or rural placement in year 3. It would be great to have medical students complete more rural clinical placements so that they have greater exposure to rural healthcare. This might inspire them to not only apply for rural placements during years 3 to 5 but also work as a rural doctor in the future.
3)bonded medicine
4)increases facilities+ research facilties
5) increase the quota for rural medical students(more places)

Question 8

qualities

Answer 8

passionate

empathetic

resilient

mentor

communicator