14 Springs Medical Centre
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Springs committed to education and training Say g’day to future GPs
Dr Adam Rouse was born in the UK but emigrated to Australia at the age of seven. A Deakin University student he studied for two years at Geelong, followed by a year at Daylesford and then a year at Ballarat Base Hospital where he also worked as an intern and second-year hospital medical officer. Dr Rouse has also just completed six months’ obstetrics/gynaecology with a view to completing a diploma in that field. “I love the great variety of patients and cases here and the workplace culture and environment are very suited to those with young families.” Dr Darren McCorry emigrated to Australia from Northern Ireland as a child and studied medicine at the University of Melbourne, working most recently at Ballarat Base Hospital in general medicine, obstetrics, anaesthetics, palliative care, pain medicine and emergency. With a house between Ballarat and Daylesford he loves the “small town and quaint country”. Dr Falak Naz comes from Pakistan and worked most recently at Ballarat Base Hospital. She has an Advanced Diploma of Obstetrics and Gynaecology HIS year sees Springs Medical Centre take on its largest cohort of general practice registrars and believes Springs Medical Centre offers “the ever. The centre, which prides itself on delivering excellence in training and education to the next generation best working environment, a beautiful town and friendly people”. of medical and allied health practitioners, has six GP Registrars including Dr Adam Rouse, a returning graduate Dr Jane Foley comes from Dublin in Ireland, of Deakin School of Medicine who completed an Integrated Model of Medical Education in Rural Settings then New Zealand, then Sydney then Melbourne. (IMMERSe) year with the centre in 2011. She has had a lot of experience in women’s health Adding to the centre is also medical student Lukas Marchant, an already qualified physiotherapist. and says the region reminds her of her home Centre general manager Lynda Poke said Springs Medical Centre had “a strong culture” of education and training supporting the dedicated medical workforce in Daylesford and Trentham to continue to meet the growing country. “There is also a mix of patients and I enjoy the and complex health needs of the community. ongoing relationships with them and the continuity Ms Poke said it was important that people realised that the GP Registrars were fully qualified doctors, starting a career in general practice, often bringing essential and diverse clinical experience and skills to the primary care of care. It feels like there is a nice community spirit here.” setting. Many have worked in hospitals in Australia and overseas for a number of years. Dr Ruth Spencer hails from the UK and was “The GP registrars and medical students here are already very competent and professional in their own right. working as a fly in/fly out emergency doctor They often come here with very extensive medical backgrounds. For example, Dr Vladimir Ulanov is a trained at Broken Hill Hospital before joining Springs neurologist in Russia, Dr Falak Naz has advanced experience and skills in obstetrics and gynaecology and Dr Medical Centre about 18 months ago. She also Ruth Spencer has extensive experience in emergency medicine. So our registrars bring additional skills into our practice which is incredibly beneficial for both staff and clients. It is an asset to have a diverse medical workforce has experience as an emergency doctor at Monash in a group practice because we can work together in a collaborative and supportive way. We recognise continuity Medical Centre and Dandenong Hospital in Melbourne. of care is important and our appointment system is structured in a way that you can generally book ahead to see “I love the huge variety - you never know what your own doctor. If you have an urgent ‘on the day need’ we always have a doctor available and when this is not the day is going to bring. And it’s nice to be able your own doctor your information is available to the new doctor for review. to get to know my patients as well so I can follow “I also think it is important for the community to value what an opportunity and a privilege it is to have them up and have good continuity of care - this was such a group of talented and highly qualified general practice registrars and medical students, who also live in something I really missed out on when working in our community, and reflect the diversity of the community and maintain a medical workforce for Daylesford, the emergency department.” Hepburn and Trentham. This is always an ongoing challenge for smaller rural communities. And we also Dr Vladimir Ulanov trained at Nizhny have our general practice nurses and other clinicians offering their expertise, providing health services and Novgorood in Russia and worked at the Flinders information, because we are not only a service for people who are unwell or suffering chronic conditions – we Medical Centre in South Australia. He has special are also about promoting good health and maintaining wellness.” skills and interests in neurology and preventive Ms Poke said doctors, nurses and other allied health practitioners who completed some or all of their training healthcare and enjoys the “variety of medical and education in rural and regional Australia were also more likely to stay or return to live and work in rural presentations”. communities. Dr Ulanov is also keen on the region’s “beautiful “Being part of training and education gives us a head start in recruiting a skilled and available health country”, bushwalking, fishing and restaurants. workforce for our rural towns like Daylesford, Hepburn and Trentham.” Meanwhile medical student Lukas Marchant Ms Poke said the commitment to education and training, from seven qualified, accredited and passionate senior hails from Queensland and has been working general practitioners was to be commended. in the health field for five years including as a “Our supervisors are to be congratulated on being recognised as leaders in their profession, capable of physiotherapist. educating its future members by sharing experience, expertise and professional ethics. It is the relationship Lukas loves the country way of life so close to between the supervisor and registrar and student that is at the heart of the learning experience. Supervising a the major services of Ballarat and Melbourne and registrar and student places significant responsibility on the supervisor and the practice. While these demands include the requirements and standards imposed by the Australian General Practice Training Program and Deakin sees himself “lucky” to be chosen to take on the Daylesford role this year. University, it is an investment that is very worth our while.”
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Above, from left to right, Dr Jane Foley, Dr Ruth Spencer, Lukas Marchant (Deakin Medical Student), Dr Falak Naz, Dr Adam Rouse, Dr Darren McCorry and Dr Vladimir Ulanov.