15.4 Rural ready: Supercharging professional support for rural doctors
Tracks
Crown Ballroom 3C
| Friday, October 24, 2025 |
| 3:45 PM - 4:15 PM |
| Crown Ballroom 3C |
Details
Format: Practical workshop (90-minute)
Speaker
Prof Belinda O'Sullivan
Professor
Monash University
Rural ready: Supercharging professional support for rural doctors
3:45 PM - 5:25 PMAbstract Overview
Background – Rural doctors need professional support for sustainable practice. However, as this is an evolving area, there are no clear guidelines around professional support and continuing professional development for rural doctors working at advanced scope.
Methods – This interactive workshop will involve a snapshot presentation from several industry leaders and rural doctors about why professional support is critical in their context and what we need to know. There will then be an overview of the professional support evidence leading into small group discussion to expand insights about the range of strategies which can be used to supercharge professional support for rural doctors working at advanced scope. The different scopes, skills and cohorts involved in rural medicine will be considered, as will discussion about how current approaches can be enhanced and who is responsible. The discussion and summary of table discussion will be facilitated by experts, applying the latest evidence and systems thinking.
Findings – Attendees will gain a nuanced understanding of professional support for rural doctors. Participants will make relevant contacts and be able to register interest to get a copy of the summary report following the workshop.
Methods – This interactive workshop will involve a snapshot presentation from several industry leaders and rural doctors about why professional support is critical in their context and what we need to know. There will then be an overview of the professional support evidence leading into small group discussion to expand insights about the range of strategies which can be used to supercharge professional support for rural doctors working at advanced scope. The different scopes, skills and cohorts involved in rural medicine will be considered, as will discussion about how current approaches can be enhanced and who is responsible. The discussion and summary of table discussion will be facilitated by experts, applying the latest evidence and systems thinking.
Findings – Attendees will gain a nuanced understanding of professional support for rural doctors. Participants will make relevant contacts and be able to register interest to get a copy of the summary report following the workshop.
Biography
Belinda O'Sullivan is a rural health systems researcher with a focus on rural workforce development and sustainability. Jenny May is an adjunct professor at the University of Newcastle and is a long-term strategic thinker and policymaker related to rural workforce development and sustainability. They partner with a diverse panel of presenters who blend real world practice and evidence to inform this topic.
Prof Jenny May AM
National Rural Health Commissioner
Co-presenter
Biography
Professor Jenny May AM has been passionate about rural health since her first rural medical student placement in 1980 and then as a trainee rural doctor at Tamworth Hospital in 1985.
Professor May’s vast and extensive knowledge working across Australia and internationally has provided multiple opportunities to contribute through research on health workforce matters. She now calls Tamworth home and has had the incredible privilege to live and work with her doctor husband and family in a number of remote and regional locations.
Professor May holds fellowships with RACGP and ACRRM and has extensive experience in clinical practice, research, education and rural health advocacy. In 2016 she was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to community health in rural and regional areas, as a general practitioner, member of professional medical groups, and as an educator.
With over 35 years of working and supporting rural, regional and remote health care, her appointment as the third National Rural Health Commissioner has been widely welcomed.
A/Prof Michael Clements
Chair
RACGP Rural
Co-presenter
Biography
A/Prof Michael Clements is an experienced Townsville based General Practitioner and multi-site practice owner with a background in health leadership and clinical and corporate governance. A/Prof Clements has accrued a wide variety of skills and special interests in his time with the Royal Australian Air Force and then with QLD Health as Director of Medical Services at Ingham Hospital before opening his private practices in Townsville while concurrently working for the QLD Rural Generalist Training Pathway as an advisor. Having worked in rural, remote and overseas clinical environments during and after his fellowship training Michael now gets his ‘rural fix’ by flying himself and other clinicians to remote towns in the Gulf of Carpentaria delivering GP clinics. Michael continues to work with the QLD Rural Generalist Pathway and is on the Board of RACGP as the Rural Chair.
Prof Tarun Sen Gupta
James Cook University
Co-presenter
Biography
Tarun Sen Gupta is Dean and Academic Head of Medicine (acting) and Professor of Health Professional Education at the James Cook University College of Medicine and Dentistry. He has worked in undergraduate and postgraduate medical education since 1993, with interests in rural medicine, community-based education and assessment. He is a Training Adviser for the Queensland Rural Generalist Pathway and has previously worked in solo remote practice in Richmond, northwest Queensland.
He is a Past-President of RDAQ and has been a Board member of RDAQ, RDAA and the Rural Doctors Foundation. He currently chairs ACRRM’s Education Council, and is immediate Past Chair of the Assessment Committee. He sits on the WHO Technical Expert Group on Measurement of the distribution of health workers. He was a foundation staff member of the JCU medical school in 2000, and has published numerous papers on its rurally-focussed community-based educational model and graduate outcomes.
Dr Sarah Chalmers
RG
RDAA
Co-presenter
Biography
Dr. Sarah Chalmers is a Rural Generalist with the Northern Territory Dept of Health, based in Darwin, Australia. Her Advanced Skills Training (AST) is in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health. She is a previous President of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM, 2020-2022) and President-elect of the Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA).
