Header image

When Rural Women Take the Lead - Leadership and Resilience Reimagined

Tracks
Auditorium - Plenary
Friday, October 25, 2024
3:45 PM - 4:50 PM
Auditorium

Details

Stream: BUILD UP RESILIENCE: Strategies for Building Thriving Rural Communities


Speaker

Agenda Item Image
Dr Sarah Chalmers
Immediate Past President and SLO
ACRRM

When Rural Women Take the Lead - Leadership and Resilience Reimagined

Abstract Overview

It is reasonably well recognised that female leadership styles are different to their male colleagues. This presentation aims to explain how and why this occurs, both through review of current literature and the experiences and opinions of Female Rural Health leaders across Canada and Australia.

Despite female doctors in equal numbers across both our counties, our leadership is dominated by men. To change this, we need to understand why, and design specific solutions for all of us to be equally represented in leadership.

Resilience is considered a key element to success in rural practice, and various strategies have been proposed to both teach and enhance resilience. Despite this, many rural doctors, at various stages in their career, find their resilience shifts to resistance, then burnout. But must this be? Is it possible to strive for a sustainable system where this “resilience” is not required?

Building on discussions and personal experiences, we will explore resilience and sustainability, through a lens of rural women in leadership. 

This session isn’t just for female rural doctors with leadership aspirations. It is for all of us, to understand how to improve recruitment, resilience and retention of rural doctors in communities across Canada, Australia and beyond. 




Biography

Dr Sarah Chalmers is a Rural Generalist and Medical Superintendent at the Joyce Palmer Health Service on Palm Island. Her Advanced Skills Training (AST) is in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health. She is the Immediate Past President of ACRRM, and a board director of RDAA. Sarah is the Chair of ACRRMs Respectful Workplaces Committee, and a member of RDAA's Female Doctors Group. Her clinical and education expertise in remote health was developed over 15 years of living and working in East Arnhem land in the Northern Territory. She has held Academic positions with Flinders University, and more recently with James Cook University. Her clinical interests include remote practice, occupational health, mental wellness and First Nations healthcare. She has also worked at local, national and international level as a Rugby Union match doctor. In her spare time, Sarah has a tolerant family - husband Vola and 2 rowdy daughters.
loading