Rural GP Refresher Conference
Heidi Annand – VC Operations
On April 13th Rural Doctors Network NSW hosted their annual Rural GPs Refresher Conference in the beachside paradise that is Port Macquarie. Part of this was a student program targeted at NSW medical students, in particular RDN Cadets. There were over 50 of us in attendance which made for a great chance to meet fellow medical students but also catch up with old friends.
I travelled from Swan Hill (hello 4am drive to Bendigo airport) to attend, coinciding the trip with a visit to my parent’s farm. Studying rurally means travelling big distances for placement sometimes, and I appreciate the chance to see my loved ones (both family and my friends from afar that also attended).
We had a jam-packed schedule, learning about everything from how to apply for internship (courtesy of HETI) to hearing tips on entering governance in health careers (courtesy of RDN board members).
We also had some hands-on workshops. We practiced our simple suturing on swine products under the guidance of a local dermatologist registrar, while she gave us tips on maximising our clinical time. We also worked on our mindfulness and mental health action plans (similar to a bushfire action plan) in a super practical wellbeing workshop.
Of course the formal dinner was a blast, and we loved hearing from fellow cadets, current and former, about their medicine journeys.
Several of our NSW NRHSN Executive Team were in attendance, and it was a great chance to catch up in person and talk through our current projects (see cute group snaps above and below).
Thanks again to NSW RDN for hosting us!
