BONNY Jones, 24, returns to the Redlands to complete her education as one of five new doctors to be rotated through Redland Hospital this year as part of a supported pathway towards a career in rural medicine.
She joins Drs Sylvia Shrestha, Erin Jeffrey, Jack DeGuingand and Heather Dezuanni.
Dr Jones said she chose rural medicine because of the high skills needed by doctors in country areas.
“I also think it’s nice to be part of a small community and know your patients. In this environment, you can offer continuity of care,” she said.
Dr Jones said growing up the Redlands with an early education at St Ritas at Victoria Point gave her an appreciation for a close knit community.
“That’s what I like about the Redland Hospital, it still has that community feel,” she said.
“It was top of my list for this placement. The bushland reminds me of home and I feel comfortable here. The hospital has a high quality of care and is patient centred.”
Dr Jones said training to be a rural GP was a five-year program and included one specialty focus. She hoped for hers to be obstetrics.
“Working in this way is very broad and it’s good preparation for work as a GP anywhere,” she said.
The five spent a week on orientation before starting on wards in the emergency department, surgery, paediatrics, anaesthetics and general medicine.
As future rural practitioners they will then provide hospital and community-based primary and community-based medical practice, including emergency and inpatient care.
The doctors are also expected to have advanced specialised skills in at least one discipline. These include emergency medicine, Indigenous health, internal medicine, mental health, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, surgery and anaesthetics.
Redland Hospital Acting Director Medical Services Dr Brian Bell said the Redland Hospital staff was delighted to welcome this new cohort of Rural Generalist Interns.
“The rural generalist interns are really motivated to acquire as much knowledge as possible before eventually taking up positions in rural Queensland,” Dr Bell said.
“Redland Hospital is keen to support its colleagues in the more remote areas by ensuring that medical staff that work there are as well trained as they can be.”
