Media Release
A unique national GP training program that enables doctors to gain their specialist qualification in General Practice – while living and working as a doctor in a rural or remote community – will benefit dozens of communities across Australia in 2021, including Clarence Town in the Hunter region of NSW.
Dr Aimen Saif is among 32 doctors who will be training with the Remote Vocational Training Scheme (RVTS) this year.
Funded by the Australian Government, RVTS delivers General Practice and Rural Generalist training for medical practitioners in First Nations, rural and remote communities throughout Australia.
Dr Saif is working at the Clarence Town Medical Centre, while continuing her training under RVTS’s Remote Stream.
“The beauty of the RVTS model is that our doctors don’t need to leave their communities to undertake their training” RVTS CEO, Dr Pat Giddings, said.
“This means they can continue to provide the essential, quality local medical care that their communities need, while still completing their specialist training and gaining access to the latest advances in rural General Practice.”
“It really is a win-win situation for the doctors and their communities.”
RVTS has been training doctors for over 20 years, and in that time has supported more than 400 doctors who have delivered primary health care in over 300 rural, remote and First Nations communities.
Under the RVTS training model, doctors access the latest evidence-based learning via intensive workshops, online training, webinars, and regular interaction with experts in the field.
Dr Saif said the benefits of working and training as a doctor under the RVTS training model were significant.
“I have a young family and my husband is doing his training in Geriatric Medicine at John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle – so the flexibility provided by the RVTS program is invaluable, in that it enables me to continue to provide care to my patients in Clarence Town while also continuing my training” she said. “This is not only a positive for my own training journey, but also for my family and for the community.”
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