The Best of Both Worlds

With idyllic fishing, hiking, and camping spots aplenty, the Cape and Torres Region offers an enviable coastal lifestyle, but there’s a lot more to it than that. Doctors who head to the Far North are discovering the training, research, and career advancement opportunities on offer in this Tropical Island Paradise.

Rural generalist registrar, Dr Joshua Baker travelled to the Cape from Outback Western Australia, enticed by adventure and a unique medical training experience. Based on Thursday Island (Waiben), Dr Baker works across hospital, primary health centre and outreach clinic settings.

“As soon as I saw doctors working on the island, I just thought they had the best job in the world. You’re getting to do a diverse range of clinical work in the emergency department in the hospital and out in remote clinics. These guys are at the forefront of primary care,” Dr Baker says.

"Thursday Island is a really interesting place to train because the doctors here have a range of different experiences and backgrounds. There are a lot of procedural cases here for the obstetricians and a lot of clinical experience in critical care. You also develop your problem-solving skills with logistical considerations of providing care to outer islands. The medical workforce here is focused on investing in the education of students and junior doctors.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by Dr John Hall, Director of Medical Services – Western, Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service. Based at Weipa Integrated Health Service, Dr Hall says the training experience offered in the region sets junior doctors up for success.

“Places like Weipa, Thursday Island, and Cooktown are fantastic breeding grounds for doctors. You get exposure to a broad range of specialties and pathologies, and the maturity you gain is invaluable,” Dr Hall says. “You develop clinical autonomy earlier in your career, you’re placed in situations where you’re the first responder, and you’re taking responsibility.

“I’ve always found that candidates who cut their teeth in rural and remote sites become more advanced candidates clinically. I can assure you that clinical supervisors who are assessing your entry into specialty training value that experience as well.

 Dr Hall says that there is likely to be more non-GP specialists living and working in rural areas in the future.

“We're seeing this rollout across the country in places like Alice Springs, and in the Kimberley. We have a growing cohort of specialist doctors who live and work rural and remotely or provide outreach services. Doctors keen on specialty training should not discount rural and remote regions like the Cape.”

Another element of training in the Cape and Torres region helping doctors improve their prospects for competitive specialty pathways is through research.

“There are plenty of opportunities for research looking into models of care and improving health systems. It greatly strengthens the CVs of junior doctors to have this kind of meaningful research that would be impressive to most specialty training programs.

“The outcomes of research here aren’t just words on a page, it’s real-life translational impact for these communities in terms of implementing new services or improving access to care, demonstrably improving health outcomes,” Dr Hall says.

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