Twenty-five “excited” first year health students have taken part in the first of three Health Workforce Queensland’s (HWQ's) GROW Rural Programs on the Atherton Tablelands with the aim of encouraging them to return and work in the region.

The program is focused on ensuring remote, rural, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities have access to highly skilled health professionals when and where they need them, now and into the future. It is supported by Northern Queensland Primary Health Network (NQPHN) over the next three years.

GROW Rural NQ presents first-year medical, nursing, midwifery, dentistry, and allied health students with a unique experience to develop familiarity and a deeper understanding of the potential of a professional and personal life they could have working in rural Queensland.

By cultivating strong connections with the health workforce community and the broader community, the GROW Rural program encourages health students to return to rural communities for their clinical placements and to consider rural practice as a future career opportunity.

HWQ Future Workforce Team Leader Meredith Connor said the students visited Atherton, Ravenshoe, and Mareeba.

“Mulungu Aboriginal Corporation Medical Centre welcomed the students with fantastic cultural activities including traditional dance and an art workshop in which the students painted boomerangs and clapsticks,” said Ms Connor.

She said the activities over the three days included:

• Ravenshoe and Atherton Talking Circles with local community residents and health professionals who shared their personal and professional journeys
• skill sessions based on the 1987 Gillies Range fatal bus crash disaster scenario, rotating the students through the patient journey from first responder to ED, followed by rehabilitation, psychological wellbeing and a specific suturing session
• Mareeba families billeted the GROW Rural students on a Saturday night which allowed the students to experience what it was like to live rurally and shared a community meal at the Ant Hill Hotel
• a visit to Granite Gorge Nature Park to enjoy nature and the wildlife.

“We also had local high school and sixth year JCU students volunteer as casualties and look forward to connecting with them again next year,” said Ms Connor.

“The skill session facilitators who so generously shared their time, knowledge, skills, and passion made the sessions the highlight of the day.  

“It was great to experience how engaged the communities became with GROW Rural over the course of the weekend and their eagerness to be part of next year’s event.”

Wesley Ruff, who is studying nutrition and dietetics at Griffith University on the Gold Coast, said he “loved being introduced to the difference between living in the rural community and the workforce”.

“I think there is a lot more that goes into everything than actually meets the public eye and that’s important for individuals such as ourselves to be exposed to,” said Mr Ruff.

Kacey Lynch, who is a psychology student at James Cook University in Townsville, said GROW NQ “was such an amazing opportunity to meet new people, both professionals and peers”.

“I really enjoyed getting a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes in rural practice and getting to practise some skills firsthand,” said Ms Lynch.

HWQ CEO Chris Mitchell said HWQ was delighted to take the GROW Rural Program to North Queensland following the success of the program in Central Queensland and Southwest Queensland.

“It was great to see such enthusiasm from our future remote and rural health workforce and we are so pleased that we are able to partner with NQPHN and work with the communities and key stakeholders in Northern Queensland to provide workforce solutions,” said Mr Mitchell. NQPHN Chief Executive Officer Robin Whyte said the program involved students making commitments for three years with all travel, accommodation, and catering covered by HWQ.

“We hope after qualifying, some, if not many, of the students will be encouraged to return to these rural communities and provide vital professional health services,” Ms Whyte said.

Picture caption: Seven of the GROW Rural students (from left) Savindie Abeynayak, Louis Huynh, Maddy Harris, Elliot Hunt, Caitlin Brims, Karif Hung, and Jessica Lanza on the Atherton Tablelands.

About HWQ

HWQ is a not for profit, non-Government Rural Workforce Agency (RWA) for primary health workforce in Queensland, focused on making sure remote, rural, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities have access to highly skilled health professionals when and where they need them, now and into the future.

Health Workforce Queensland Vision is to ensure an optimal health workforce to enhance the health of Queensland communities.

To achieve this Vision, Our Purpose is to create sustainable health workforce solutions that meet the needs of remote, rural, regional and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities challenged by a supply shortage of health professionals.

Northern Queensland Primary Health Network (NQPHN) is joining other Queensland Primary Health Networks (PHNs) in a key role in the prioritising and planning of the distribution of the General Practitioner (GP) trainee workforce after being awarded a grant through the Australian Government’s Health Workforce Program.

Working with key stakeholder groups across Queensland, the consortium of the seven Queensland PHNs, including NQPHN, will provide analysis and advice on the priority locations for GP training placements to meet current and future GP workforce needs, through the Australian General Practice Training (AGPT) Program GP Workforce Planning and Prioritisation (GP WPP) grant.

This work will make a vital contribution to the future of GP training that will be delivered by the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) from February 2023.

“The PHNs’ advice will inform the distribution of the GP trainee workforce across our diverse communities across Queensland and support the transition to College-led GP training,” NQPHN Chief Executive Officer Robin Whyte said.

“It will also enable greater visibility of GP training opportunities to support GP trainees to undertake their training in a single region and acquire the skills to meet that community’s health needs,” Ms Whyte said.

“The distribution approach under the College-led model deliberately provides a level of flexibility in how registrar distribution is achieved to ensure that placement decisions support a safe and positive registrar experience”.

The AGPT Program provides full-time, on-the-job training for doctors who want to specialise in general practice and/or rural and remote medicine who can then work as GPs anywhere in Australia. The three to four-year training program offers 1,500 training places each year under a competitive merit-based process. It is delivered by ACRRM and the RACGP.

Ms Whyte said the grant would enable NQPHN to employ a Practice Support and Stakeholder Engagement Officer to provide support and advocate for the needs of GP registrars, supervisors, general practice, and key stakeholders in NQPHN’s footprint, including Cape and Torres, Cairns and Hinterland, Townsville, and Mackay for the delivery of the GP WPP Program. 

PHNs will use their well-established relationships with local general practices and stakeholders to map the existing and future GP and trainee workforce in each GP catchment area. A key focus will be for each PHN to map community need against workforce and GP training requirements.

“We will collect data on the current GP workforce, vacancy data, training practice accreditation, capacity, and any retirement and succession plans. This information will be used to provide advice to the Colleges on prioritising AGPT training placements to meet current and future GP workforce needs to match the needs of communities,” said Ms Whyte.

“PHNs are well placed to provide this advice. We’ve supported our primary care workforce and established highly effective stakeholder relationships across the health system since 2015.

“We have deeply embedded working relationships with general practices and have also conducted comprehensive Health Needs Assessments to determine the health and service needs of the population and health care system within our catchment regions.”