Dr Katie Chang
Doctors get sick too!
Dr Katie Chang moved her family to Charleville and set up a medical practice. Her perspective on healthcare challenges for rural doctors provides an insight into why programs like GPs4RuralDocs are so important.
The importance of accessing independent and confidential healthcare
According to our research, 40% of rural doctors reported they travel more than 300 kilometres to seek independent and confidential medical treatment, with around one in five travelling more than 800 kilometres.
The travel times involved are challenging from both a professional and a personal perspective, taking doctors away from their patients and families, sometimes for days at a time.
Katie’s story
One such rural doctor, Dr Katie Chang from Charleville, has previously had to arrange her GP visits up to six months in advance.
“I travelled three hours to see my GP in Roma and I would need a day off work to do that, because you can’t do it on the weekend,” she says, adding that it used to be easier to just avoid the trip altogether.
“I guess we don’t really think it’s worth having a day off work and driving six hours just to see a GP, so it’s tempting to put it off,” Katie said.
When you’re the only doctor in town or part of a small team of healthcare professionals, accessing independent and confidential healthcare isn’t easy.
Katie points out the issues involved in seeking healthcare from a colleague, friend or boss. It’s a conflict of interest and shouldn’t be the only option available to rural health workers.
The impact for health workers like Katie is that their health concerns go untreated. This can potentially lead to more complicated medical issues down the line or may force them to leave rural practice.
This is especially sad for doctors like Katie, who dedicates her life to support her rural Queensland town, despite the extra difficulties within rural medicine.
Alongside her husband Paul and their three young kids, they made the brave decision to move to a rural community and set up their practice. It is not an easy path for a doctor with a young family.
With more and more doctors leaving rural practice, communities are faced with GP shortages and the impact on healthcare in these towns can be devastating. This is why it’s so important to support the doctors who choose to stay, despite the challenges.
How we help doctors like Katie
GPs4RuralDocs, our GP service specifically for health practitioners, has been developed to help doctors like Katie.
Our team of highly experienced GPs visit rural towns and provide health appointments for health practitioners in the community. Offering both in-town and telehealth appointments, the program means that doctors can see to their own health needs without being forced to leave their patients and families.
It also ensures a more comfortable environment, removing the need for doctors to confide their health concerns to colleagues or supervisors, as the service is provided by an independent GP.
There are many doctors like Katie around Australia, dedicating themselves to rural medicine and crying out for support. With more funding and support, we hope to replicate this service and reach even more doctors in need.
Other rural heroes like Katie
Dr Sue Masel
Dr Sue Masel has lived and worked in Goondiwindi in western Queensland for 25 years. She works as a rural GP and is incredibly connected to the town.
Dr Alex Sleeman
In rural and remote Australia, medical care can be limited, with distance making it difficult for emergency health services to arrive quickly. For some travellers, they were lucky that Dr Alex Sleeman from Western Australia was not far behind their car when it crashed.
Dr Cam Hollows
In the world of emergency medical care, having the right equipment at the right time can be crucial. This is particularly so for Dr Cam Hollows who worked tirelessly during the Lismore floods providing emergency health care.
