A junior doctor who was raised in rural Victoria – and is currently training to become a Rural General Surgeon – has been named the Rural Doctors Association of Australia’s (RDAA) Rural Doctor in Training of the Year for 2024 in recognition of her significant efforts in rural health advocacy, supporting other junior doctors and medical students to study and work rurally, and driving the development of quality research on rural surgery.
Dr Jessica Paynter was announced as the Award recipient at the Rural Medicine Australia (RMA24) Conference Dinner in Darwin on Friday night.
In congratulating Dr Paynter, RDAA President, Dr RT Lewandowski, said: “Jessica is a highly committed Surgical Registrar who was raised in the small town of Nyah in Victoria’s Murray-Mallee region, and clearly has a passion for improving access to quality healthcare for rural and remote Australians.
“Jessica is active in many organisations, including the Rural Doctors Association of Victoria (as a Board member), RDAA’s Doctors in Training Special Interest Group, and the AMA’s Council of Rural Doctors (as the Victorian representative).
“Throughout her junior medical career she has actively sought to train rurally. As a medical student with Monash University, she undertook all her training in Mildura, Swan Hill and Bendigo, with John Flynn placements in Broome and the Bidyadanga Aboriginal Community in WA.
“Since graduating from Medicine and embarking on her training in Rural General Surgery, she has worked solely in regional and rural locations – namely at Bendigo and Echuca Hospitals.
“By choosing to train as locally as possible, Jessica has rejected the expectation that you must go to the city for surgical training, and in doing so has set an example to her junior doctor colleagues that they can train locally too.
“This has resulted in a greater number of Jessica’s peers staying in regional and rural Victoria to continue their training, rather than relocating to metropolitan areas – ultimately benefitting rural patients.
“Jessica has also been extremely active in promoting academic innovation and excellence in Rural Medicine.
“She has co-authored numerous research papers on rural healthcare and Rural General Surgery, providing data against the centralisation of care and exploring ways in which rural health service provision can be further improved.
“Additionally, in conjunction with Monash Rural Health, she has spearheaded the Doctors for Regional Innovation, Vision, Excellence, Research & Scholarship (DRIVERS) conference, which aims to promote academic innovation and excellence in Rural Medicine – because she recognises the importance of research and data in improving health outcomes in the bush, and also in advocating for greater resourcing of rural health services.
“Jessica also volunteers as a Lecturer at Monash University’s Bendigo Medical School, mentors medical students in the Bendigo region to develop their research and educational skills, and helps fifth year medical students prepare for internship.
“The immense contribution she is making to further develop rural Australia as a location of academic innovation in Medicine, breaking down barriers to clinical training in rural settings, and supporting her peers and medical students, makes her a very worthy recipient of this year’s Award.”
In responding to the Award, Dr Paynter said: “I enjoyed an idyllic childhood in Nyah, and greatly admired the local Rural Generalist doctors in my community – Dr Mike Moynihan and Dr Ernan Hession.
“While I was always interested in a medical career, their dedication to the health and wellbeing of their community really sealed my decision to become a doctor.
“Being offered a place in Monash University’s Medical School allowed me to keep my connection to my hometown through clinical placements within the Murray-Mallee region.
“I came into Medicine thinking I’d become a Rural Generalist doctor, but I was inspired to become a Rural General Surgeon when I went to Mildura for a placement in my first year and spent time with two Rural General Surgeons (one who had been practising in Mildura for his entire life and a female general surgeon with young children who had recently begun working there). They were not only great role models, but I loved the work, the patient and clinical mix, and the local health team – and so began my journey into Rural General Surgery.
“I look back on my time in Mildura very fondly as the best year of my medical degree. My first two years of training in the city were not that enjoyable for me, so it was a watershed moment for me when I could return to a rural location to continue my training.
“Going to Bendigo for my clinical training really cemented for me what Rural Medicine was all about – and I have been very fortunate to be mentored and supported there by my Supervisor, Professor Janelle Brennan.
“I have also had the enormous privilege of being able to work and train in Echuca, which is a smaller centre than Bendigo and more the size of the location I want to work in – the camaraderie of the whole healthcare team there is fantastic, and everyone made me feel very welcome.
“In the past two years, more junior doctors have been looking to stay in our community to undertake their specialty training, whether that be in Rural General Surgery, Rural Generalism or other fields of Medicine. This has brought so many benefits to the local community, and most notably an increase in the number of doctors here.
“It has been wonderful to see senior managers from the Health Department and hospital – as well as local senior doctors – supporting our desire to stay in the community to continue our training and telling us ‘we will make it happen for you’.”
Dr Paynter said publishing quality research on rural health outcomes is crucial to the future of medical services in rural communities.
“Arguments about the centralisation of surgery, or any area of Rural Medicine, tend not to focus on the best interests of rural patients” she said.
“It is critical that we continuously publish research on outcomes in Rural General Surgery, and Rural Medicine more widely, so decisions aren’t being made without our input. When I go to the big policy meetings in Melbourne, a common question is ‘Where is the research and the data to back this up?’ A culture of research helps bring an academic focus to decisions about rural health services.
“The DRIVERS conference has been really crucial in supporting academic innovation in Rural Medicine, and I’m really grateful to Monash Rural Health and all the regional training hubs that have come on-board to spearhead the conference so we actually have data and evidence to make decisions that are best for our rural communities.”
Next year, Dr Paynter will be continuing her Rural General Surgery training in South Australia and the Northern Territory, but plans to return to the Murray-Mallee region to work as a Rural Surgeon once she completes her training.
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