Embracing rural life: Dr Drake-Brockman's new chapter in primary care

Dr Thomas Drake-Brockman (they/them) recently made the move from Albany to Mount Barker to begin their stint in Primary Care as part of their ACRRM fellowship training. After careful consideration, Thomas has chosen to train with the delightful team at Plantagenet Medical. Thomas has only been in Barker for a few weeks, but is already enjoying the rural move:

"Having worked in mostly hospitals for 5 years, the change to a smaller practice and a smaller town has been a real breath of fresh air for me. Walking to work, knowing everybody who I'm working with during the day, getting to know names and faces at the local shops and around town have been a real delight,” they told us.

As they are also completing a PhD at the University of Western Australia, Thomas currently works 2 and a half and 3 days at the practice on alternating weeks, giving a good sense of variety. They also took the opportunity between jobs to take a well-earned break, spending 2 weeks in Japan.

While it's only been a few weeks since commencing primary care, they're already reaping the rewards:

"Being able to see my patients a week or two weeks later to follow up is immensely rewarding - particularity when their treatment has worked, and they're delighted to be better. Patients in Barker are really grateful to get in to see a GP, and pleased when you take an interest in them.

I've also been able to think about my areas of interest, which includes gender-affirming care, and the practice has been happy to advertise this. I've already had patients tell me that they've specifically been looking to see a doctor that's interested in their care and chose me! I've been able to use my experience and knowledge to make that care journey a better one for them.”

Thomas has also noticed new challenges and is taking on new opportunities to advocate for rural GPs and RGs in training, including recently being appointed as GP in Training Representative (ACRRM) with the AMA (WA)'s Doctors in Training group.

“Billing is hard when it's something you haven't had to do before, but even so, GP and RG are so rewarding overall. I've already noticed that I'm much happier as a doctor now that I'm in primary care. The barriers to entry for primary care, amidst a shortage of GPs across our state, need to be torn down. A lot of this is the real and perceived financial barriers, which we really need to see the federal government deliver on solving."

Dr Thomas Drake-Brockman enjoying a well-deserved holiday in Japan.