Time: AEST

Agenda Item

8.50am

Sign into NRHSN Council. Please ensure display name is “First Name Surname – RHC” e.g., Jane Smith – BREAATHHE

9.00am

Meeting Open and Acknowledgement of Country 

Presenter – Jocelyn Ledger, NRHSN Chair

9.05am

NRHSN Update

Presenter – Jocelyn Ledger, NRHSN Chair

9.15am

Leadership and Advocacy

Presenter – Dr Mirna Hunter

45 min – Dr Mirna Hunter’s presentation

30 min – Breakout workshop

Link to breakout activity and group presentations

15 min – Group discussion

Dr Mirna Hunter’s career has taken her from clowning with Dr Patch Adams in the streets of Morocco, to doing a surgical clerkship in Harvard Medical School, learning Aerospace Medicine at NASA in Houston and more recently spending two years on a giant semi-trailer eye clinic providing care to remote communities in Western Australia. It was during her time as a nomadic outback ophthalmology registrar that she witnessed firsthand the health inequalities facing hard working Aussies around the country. She subsequently completed a Masters in Business Administration to and became a registrar with the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators (RACMA) to learn how to navigate the complex health care system and get the resources to where they are truly needed. As a medical administrator she views the doctors as her patients now and is working towards the goal of achieving equal access to healthcare regardless of your remoteness.

10.45am

Morning tea

11.00am

Concurrent Sessions

Budgeting – how to plan the year and adapt for events

Presenter – Phillip Blackford, NSW RDN Finance Manager

Constitutions – what are they, updating them, and other club administrative duties

Presenter – Dave Karlson, NSW RDN Director Business Goverance

Dave hails from Port Stephens on the mid north coast of NSW.

Dave has a Bachelor of Mathematics from Newcastle University; a Commercial Computing degree from the University of Technology, Sydney; and a MBA from Newcastle University.

Dave commenced work in the IT industry in the early eighties in Sydney and after several years migrated into operations management and logistics for heavy industry. Dave spent 15 years working for BHP, then Rio Tinto, in various Logistics Management roles, moving steel and coal around Australia and the world.

In 2000 these skills in managing key business drivers and information systems led Dave to a role as General Manager (Operations) for Wine Selectors, Australia’s largest independent direct marketer of wine. In 2012 Dave made a move into the not-for-profit sector becoming the General Manager of the NSW Rural Doctors Network (RDN), the Australian Government’s designated rural workforce agency for NSW. In 2020 Dave moved into the role of Director Business Governance and Company Secretary for RDN.

Dave is also the Co-Chair of the NSW Ministry of Health’s ACI Rural Health Network Executive.

Communications tools and resources

Presenter – Jessica Rostas, NSW RDN Digital Content and Social Media Coordinator

Jessica Rostas is the person behind NSW Rural Doctors Network’s social channels! For the last ten years, she has been using social media to help businesses connect with their stakeholders. Jessica has managed socials for Australia’s leading faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and worked with a range of small businesses as Content Creator at The Measured Marketer. Her top tips for managing socials are always to plan ahead and be sure to bring something of value to your audience.

How to be an expert networker and other life skills

Presenter – Jean-Baptiste Philibert, NRHSN Vice Chair External, and Jocelyn Ledger, NRHSN Chair

11.30am

Succession Planning and Handovers

Presenter – Jocelyn Ledger, NRHSN Chair

Click here to download RHC Committee Member handover template.

12.00pm

Lunch

12.30pm

Stepping up and maximising your time as a student

Presenter – Dr Carolyn Belonogoff, 2018 NRHSN Chair

Dr Carolyn Belonogoff

Dr Carolyn Belonogoff is a junior doctor at Townsville University Hospital. During her time in medical school she was actively involved in rural health organisations. Carolyn was the 2017 Secretary and 2018 Chair for the National Rural Health Student Network, as well as being the Secretary and President for her rural health club, RHINO. As a student she undertook placements in rural hospitals in Queensland and the Northern Territory. Rural Generalism is her intended career path, but for now she is focused on balancing motherhood and medicine with her young children George and Dolly.

1.00pm

Concurrent sessions (as above) 

1.30pm

Break

1.45pm

Keynote Speaker

Presenter – Dr Linny Kimly Phuong, Director (Chair) & Founder of The Water Well Project

Linny founded The Water Well Project as an intern doctor over ten years ago. As a daughter of parents from refugee background, she is passionate about improving the lives of communities from migrant, refugee and asylum seeker background by improving their health literacy. She believes that with effective health education, these communities are better equipped to access preventative and acute healthcare resources, which will allow them to thrive and be healthy and productive members of society.

She is also a recently minted Infectious Diseases Paediatrician who works across the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, North Eastern Public Health Unit, Austin Health, Cabrini and CoHealth. She is also an active researcher within paediatric infectious diseases and a clinical tutor for the University of Melbourne- Department of Paediatrics.

The Water Well Project has been acknowledged for their work with a Melbourne Award, Victoria Day Award and finalist status for HESTA Impact and Australian Migration & Settlement Awards. Personally, Linny has received such awards including AMA Doctor in Training of the Year, the Victorian Premier’s Volunteer Champions Award for Leadership and Young Australian of the Year- Victorian finalist.

2.25pm

Council 2 Wrap Up

• Post Council Survey
• Announce Council 3 dates and location
• Lucky door prize announcement

2.30pm

Conclusion

Thank you for attending NRHSN Council 2. We hope you have enjoyed the day!