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Education
New Fellows enjoy rural placement opportunities Dr Priya Nandoskar and Dr Michael Basedow commence pilot program in Cairns and Darwin.
Two new Fellows are thriving in their placements at the Royal Darwin Hospital and Cairns Hospital, through the New Fellow Rural Placement Pilot. The purpose of the pilot, funded by the Australian Government Department of Health’s Specialist Training Program (STP), is to provide a New Fellow (within the first two years of practice post-Fellowship) with a comprehensive, high-quality experience in a rural location that will help them consolidate their skills and encourage them to consider working in a rural setting long term. On 1 April 2020, Dr Michael Basedow and Dr Priya Nandoskar commenced the pilot in Cairns and Darwin, respectively. Dr Basedow was keen on working in the North Queensland Tropics; meanwhile, Priya travelled north from South Australia after guidance from her mentor, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Councillor Dr Christine Lai. Dr Basedow (over page) began his medical career at the University of Queensland then he focused in working in developing areas, with some experience on Bamaga, at the tip of Cape York, and in Vietnam. He also had quite a few experiences during education and training in regional and tropical parts of Queensland. Cairns is a popular gateway for tourism in tropical North Queensland, with the Great Barrier Reef, the Daintree Rainforest and Port Douglas relatively close by. “I’ve always been an admirer of Australia’s outdoor beauty,” Dr Basedow said, “and when I think about it, I get to live in a place that most people consider a tourist destination.” However, for people living in Cairns, accessing the same level of health care as those living in urban centres
is challenging. Cairns has a significant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, as well as people living in rural communities who often present with complex and interesting cases that require surgical attention. Additionally, due to the city’s geographical location and proximity to island nations, tropical diseases that are not seen elsewhere in Australia are present in the region. This makes work for Dr Basedow fascinating. He advocates for the New Fellow Rural Placement as a way of both attracting surgeons to work in rural areas, and providing professional development opportunities that are complex and interesting. Remote medicine and outreach to the Torres Strait Islands has enriched Dr Basedow’s experience as a surgeon. He has welcomed the opportunity to work remotely on Thursday Island. In one instance, Dr Basedow arrived by plane to find a young male with acute apendicitis. Rather than moving him to another location, Dr Basedow was able to perform the surgery immediately.
Australia’s WWII history, while a ride on the Ghan Train can quickly find you in Alice Springs and Uluru. For people living in Darwin, the Royal Darwin Hospital is their major health service. In fact, it is the primary health service for the NT, and as the Katherine region is home to a significant Aboriginal population, this presents Dr Nandoskar with opportunities to do outreach services and learn more about Indigenous health. During her placement, she is tutoring an Indigenous student on a weekly basis though Flinders University. Dr Nandoskar’s interest in surgery was sparked when her friend fractured a hand during basketball at school. While concerned for her friend, she found that, instead of experiencing horror like everyone else, she was curious. This curiosity continued through medical school, where Dr Nandoskar was interested in the practical solutions in medicine and wound management. Most of her training was in Victoria, through the Geelong network, which gave her a taste of rural surgical experience.
Dr Basedow hopes the impact of the program on the community will be a positive one. He is hopeful it will encourage new surgeons to spend at least a few years in rural Australia, serving the community. Dr Basedow also hopes that those surgeons will gain a greater understanding of what can be done in these settings and that they’ll come back in the long run. In the Northern Territory (NT), the story is similar for Dr Nandoskar (right). While Darwin is the capital city of the NT, it is also considered a rural location. To the Australian public, Darwin is the tourism gateway to Kakadu National Park, and Dr Priya Nandoskar
