Rory van der Linden grew up on South Australia's Kangaroo Island where he developed a love of the outdoors and, with a doctor and nurse for parents, a desire to pursue rural medicine.
He is among a group of regionally trained medical graduates helping to combat a shortage of rural doctors in Australia
"I was fortunate my parents were pretty keen and adventurous, and we did a lot of travelling throughout rural Australia, particularly up to the Northern Territory and Arnhem Land," Dr van der Linden said.
"My parents have always worked in rural and remote Australia.
His father is a GP, his mother a nurse and diabetes educator.
"I also saw their colleagues on Kangaroo Island and what they were doing," Dr van der Linden said.
"I did work experience with some of the doctors and loved it."
With strong support from the Kangaroo Island Community Education Fund, Dr van der Linden pursued a career in medicine.
"The Education Fund gave me a lot of support when I was going to uni at the start, they bought my first laptop for me and that sent me on my way," he said.
"I have been really grounded by the strong community at home and what I have found in regional places like Port Macquarie."
Graduating in NSW
Dr van der Linden was among the first students to study medicine at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Rural Clinical School Campus in Port Macquarie when it opened in 2017.
Now aged 25, he recently graduated from the state's Mid North Coast campus and is bound for Western Australia.
"I have been very fortunate to get a position at Bunbury Hospital in rural WA and I am sure that's in part due to my training in regional NSW," Dr van der Linden said.
"That's a three-year contract where I will aim to get involved with the rural generalist training program."
Rural generalists are GPs who provide primary care services, emergency medicine and have training in additional skills such as obstetrics and anaesthetics.
The aim is to ensure they can meet the diverse health needs of regional and remote communities.
Encouraging doctors to go bush
Dr van der Linden's decision to pursue a regional medical career, after training regionally, is not unique.
A UNSW spokesperson said of 16 students to graduate this year from the Port Macquarie campus, 10 were going on to complete internships in regional Australia.
Their destinations included Bunbury, Wagga Wagga, Orange, Dubbo, Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Newcastle, as well as Sydney and Darwin.
Port Macquarie campus Director of Medical Services Associate Professor Ray Hodgson said providing medical training in regional areas was one way to boost the number of rural GPs.
"We are all very much aware of the shortage of rural doctors, particularly rural general practitioners, and we know that if you train in the rural areas of the country, you are much more likely to practice in rural areas," he said.
"We have been following the students who have graduated from here over the years and they are much more likely to practice rurally if they have studied here.
"In fact, the more years they have studied in a rural centre like ours in Port Macquarie, the more likely they are to end up practicing rurally."
Dr van der Linden said regional training highlighted the rewards of working in a similar area.
"It recognises the great lifestyle and professional opportunities in these areas and demonstrates it really is a great option in medicine," he said.
Heading to Wagga Wagga
Another recent graduate, Mary Bouwer, said she felt fortunate to have studied in her hometown of Port Macquarie, and also had her sights set on regional Australia.
"I want to become a rural GP and do rural generalism and potentially sub-specialise in emergency medicine," she said.
"Next year I will be heading off to Wagga Wagga Base Hospital and I will be doing my internship there.
"We have had smaller tutorials here than in a metropolitan university and a lot more hospital time … it exposes you to a whole range of clinical scenarios in rural health."
Former high-profile federal Lyne MP Rob Oakeshott was also among the graduating class, and planned to work as a GP in the Port Macquarie region.
