The RDAA Podcast Lounge

Originally from Fiji, Dr Salma Hanif has been providing much-needed medical care to the remote NSW community of Boggabri, with just her and one other colleague providing the town's only medical service in recent years.

Along the way, Salma has had to contend with the COVID pandemic...and even a record-breaking mouse plague!

While in Boggabri, she's been undertaking advanced GP training with the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) via the Remote Vocational Training Scheme’s Targeted Recruitment program…a program that helps deliver doctors to communities of high medical workforce need.

From growing up on a macadamia nut farm to studying Medicine, Jas Singh has had a fascinating journey! 

As a student on the Extended Rural Cohort at the University of Melbourne Medical School, Jas has undertaken all her medical training in rural areas since the second year of her medical degree. Along the way, she has also undertaken additional placements in East Arnhem Land and Cairns – and recently completed an elective placement at Tennant Creek Hospital.

She originally planned to become a neurosurgeon – but soon realised that her real passion lies in Rural Medicine.

In this podcast, we talk with Dr Diana Cross who received the ACRRM-RDAA Peter Graham ‘Cohuna’ Award for 2021 at the recent Rural Medicine Australia (RMA21) Virtual conference. 

Diana has lived and worked as a rural GP Obstetrician at Mt Gambier, in South Australia, for more than 37 years. She received this year’s award for her dedication in providing exemplary care to her community. In this fascinating and wide-ranging discussion with Diana, we delve into the psychology of general practice, the importance of listening in consultations (and the insights into patient conditions that can uncover), and whether there is growing acceptance in mainstream general practice for alternative approaches to medical treatment.

In this podcast, we talk with Dr Hamish Steiner who received the RDAA Rural Doctor of the Year Award for 2021 at the recent Rural Medicine Australia (RMA21) Virtual conference. Originally from New Zealand, Hamish has lived and worked as a doctor at Cooma, in the NSW Snowy Mountains region, for nearly 30 years. Last year, he and his colleagues stepped in to save the solo general practice in the remote town of Bombala, about an hour’s drive away from Cooma. Outside his medical work, Hamish has a passion for skiing – and we caught up with him towards the end of the 2021 Australian ski season, which had been impacted by COVID lockdowns.

In this podcast, we talk to Indira (Indi) Barrow, who was awarded the RDAA Medical Student of the Year Award for 2021, presented at the Rural Medicine Australia (RMA21) Virtual conference. 

Originally from Sydney, Indi is in her third year of post-graduate Medicine at the University of Melbourne. Last year, she completed her first clinical year at Shepparton in regional Victoria (which sparked her passion for rural health) and, at the time of this interview, was undertaking a GP rotation in the remote Victorian coastal community of Mallacoota. 

Outside her medical studies, Indi also undertakes some disability support work, which has seen her working with one of the Australian athletes who competed at the recent Paralympic games in Tokyo.

In this podcast, we talk to Dr James Padley, a Rural Generalist doctor who works with the Royal Flying Doctor Service at Port Augusta in South Australia, and is known for his compassionate mentoring of medical students and junior doctors. Dr Padley was awarded the ACRRM-RDAA Rural Registrar of the Year Award for 2021, presented at the Rural Medicine Australia (RMA21) Virtual conference.