Postcard from NT

Five years of medical school and five more years of working as a doctor has not taught me anything about being an air traffic controller. Yet, working as the District Medical Officer on call for East Arnhem Land, I wonder if I perhaps should have taken a course in aeronautical logistics.

East Woody Beach, Nhulunbuy

I'm working in Gove District Hospital in Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory on a 3 month GP registrar rotation. This area is a place of wonderful contrasts, of bumpy dirt roads that become impassable in the wet season, and a hot spot for little planes shuttling people in every direction. The hospital receives patients from the mining town where it is situated, several nearby Aboriginal communities, a number of bigger communities further away, and many small homeland regions. The budget for patient travel is enormous. It is often a logistical challenge to prioritise and arrange transport by phone, with minimal knowledge about how well equipped your caller is to handle an emergency. For acute medical problems, Careflight provides evacuation services. For less serious issues, the patient travel department scrounges seats on charter or commercial flights.

Working a shift as the District Medical Officer, many of these issues become important. Is it better to send the lady with unstable chest pain straight to Darwin with a nurse escort now, or wait a few hours for a team including a flight doctor to come? When the autopilot equipment on one plane breaks down, how will the young man with acute abdominal pain be brought in? Can the pilot fit in one more pickup before running out of allotted flying hours for the day? Is the broken down plane removed from the runway in that community yet?

Working here is a rich and challenging experience in many ways. Sometimes it seems a different world to down South, and as a GP registrar it is great to experience new things in training.

National Minimum Terms and Conditions Review

Generic handshake

GPRA is involved in a process of updating and reviewing the National Minimum Terms and Conditions for GP registrars in GP term 1 and 2. This is a really important process as it lays the basis for the minimum terms and conditions that GP registrars experience. The salaries recommended by NMTC are regularly indexed, but this year the whole document is up for review.

As current SGPT GP registrars or GP supervisors, you are engaged in working with the NMTC. We are really keen to hear your input or "wish list" about what should be upheld or changed in the NMTC. Have you come across anything you think should be different? Let us know at rlo.east@sgpt.com.au

Exam results

Getting results from GP training exams is often a time of celebrating, but sometimes it can be difficult. Congratulations to all who passed the recent RACGP OSCE's! No matter how you did, feel free to contact your SGPT RLO's (Andy or Letitia). We're always happy to have a talk, whether you want to share some good news or need some support.

The Future Series

Are you wondering what comes next after GP training? GPRA is running "The Future Series", an interactive online conference for registrars and newly-fellowed GPs. It involves a series of 16 excellent webinars presented by doctors who can give a first hand insight into business issues after GP training finishes.

There are four topic streams in the series:

• Successful negotiation
• Being the Contractor 
• Being the Boss (solo practice)
• Sharing the Profits (group practice)

Webinars are only $22 each or $110 for access to all sessions. You can attend for as many sessions as you like.

More Information: www.gpra.org.au/future-series

Register here: http://gprafutureseries2011.eventbrite.com

A digital habitat

SGPT is partnering with the University of Tasmania and GP Training Tasmania in an exciting new project investigating a "digital habitat", building on the existing "STARs" platform of resources. You can get involved too. Here's what Dr James Brown has to say:

We are running a project to develop a web based 'digital habitat' to support learning in General Practice. This 'habitat' will use the new wave of web tools.  Before the development stage we are investigating current use and perceptions of GP learners and teachers in using web based tools for education and collaboration.

This project is likely to incorporate what we have already done with the STARs platform.

We are using a questionnaire as part of the study. I would be most grateful if you could give approximately 10 minutes to do the questionnaire. The success of this study depends a great deal on your participation in this.

To participate, click on the link below: 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VHGZ2KC

Postcard from NT

Andrew Roberts is working for 3 months in the remote communities of the Katherine West Region, NT. Read about his experiences in this "Postcard from NT"

“Remember to keep your feet clear of the pedals, and don’t touch the joystick. The exits are…well…right next to you.”

It was the first time I’d seen a flight safety demonstration that included such instructions, but then, I’d never flown on such a tiny mail plane before. We were flying from Katherine out to the remote Aboriginal community of Lajamanu, roughly 600km to the south west. All things considered, I was quite glad to have even made the flight. The pilot had apparently not been told that she had a passenger today and had left half an hour earlier than scheduled. A quick call out on the radio and she quite happily turned back to get me. I can’t imagine such service from good old Qantas!

It was my first trip out to the remote community during my GP Registrar term, after a week of orientation and cultural education with Katherine West Health Board (KWHB). I was quite excited, if a little nervous. Lajamanu is a community of approximately 1000 mostly aboriginal people close to the NT/WA border in northern Australia.

The clinic is coordinated by KWHB, an Aboriginal Coorporation with whom I am placed for a 3 month GP term as part of an extended skills placement in Aboriginal Health. KWHB manage the health services to communities across a vast area of the Australian outback, roughly two thirds the size of Victoria.

The flight was hot, bumpy, slightly nauseating, and at times mildly terrifying, but the view was just amazing. The rivers and gorges, the hot, red dirt dotted with sparse vegetation, and the sheer remoteness made me realise how lucky I was to be visiting such a unique place. As we flew into the community, I realised how small it all actually was, when I saw that the runway poking out both ends of the town

We landed safely and I was dropped off at the clinic by the pilot. I was welcomed by the clinic coordinator who showed me around and I was surprised at how well-set up the clinic appeared. Four consulting rooms, a large waiting area and a 2 bed treatment room/emergency room seemed to provide everything we would be likely to need. I met the remote area nurses (RANs) that ran the place, and was struck by the dedication they showed living and working in such a remote place.

I happily took a wander around the town with one of the RANs and the clinic dog “Chopper”, so named due to her missing left ear. The temperature dropped nicely as we walked along the ‘main’ road, past the school, the store, the police station and the administration building. Happy kids ran through the streets, all huge smiles and runny noses. A bunch of teens played football in the setting sun. The many camp dogs gave us a wide berth, apparently due to Chopper being so fiercely protective of the clinic staff. I made a mental note to befriend this dog!

As I lay in bed that night, my head replayed the many and varied opinions on aboriginal health that I’d heard all my life. The simple solutions spouted by media, politicians and indeed lay people. “We should just cut off their welfare payments”. “If only someone would build them proper houses”. “Why don’t they just get up and get a job”.

Already, after only one afternoon, it was glaringly obvious just how simplistic such views really were.

OSCE preparation webinars

No doubt many of you are studying hard for the upcoming RACGP OSCE on 23rd October. GPRA is once again offering OSCE preparation webinars free to its members.

These webinars are an excellent resource to help know what to expect in the OSCE and provide some great tips for success. They are hosted online with a presenter who has recently sat the exam.

Find out more at http://www.gpra.org.au/osce-preparation-webinars
The webinars will be held on:
Thursday 29 September — 8:00pm
Monday 3 October — 8:30pm
Thursday 13 October — 8:00pm
Monday 17 October — 8:30pm