Medical student from the city finds his niche in the bush

Dr Giuseppin studied medicine after initially completing a pharmacy degree. An early placement at the Toowoomba Rural Clinical School was Dr Giuseppin’s first taste of rural medicine.

“It opened my eyes to a side of medicine I didn’t see before,” he said.

While completing his medical degree, Dr Giuseppin got his pilot’s licence in an effort to overcome his fear of flying.

“I discovered I liked flying, and I like medicine, and I wanted to put the two together. What better way to do that than to become a flying doctor?” he said.

Dr Giuseppin is currently completing Advanced Specialist Training (AST) in Anaesthetics at the Hervey Bay Hospital and says it has helped him to become a better doctor.

“I’m more confident, and from an anaesthetic point of view, I’ve dealt with or helped to deal with a lot of things that I have never seen before.

“Learning about decision-making and learning how to organise your team and react to a problem quickly is probably the core skill that makes a good anaesthetist. The other advantage of doing an AST is that you have volume. The more procedures you do, the better you get at them.”

Dr Giuseppin said there are wonderful opportunities for doctors who choose to build a career in rural practice.

“The best advice I can give is just do it. There are benefits in terms of experience. I have managed more stuff on my own than I would have in a bigger city hospital. Your career advancement can be fantastic because you are more likely to get better references, you are more likely to develop better relationships with the people who decide who works where, than you are in a big city.

“You provide a good service for the community. Your presence has a tremendous benefit for the community. You might be surprised that the community will embrace you and you might end up not wanting to leave. The story of the city doctor who goes to the country to get experience for a year, and is still there twenty years later is not as uncommon as people think.”

Dr Giuseppin said he is pleased he chose to undertake his training through James Cook University (JCU).

“JCU’s business is rural, and it shows. Your future will be secure if you train with JCU.”