Young pair lead fight for regions
As the regions suffer a shortage of doctors there is hope on the horizon as JOHN ANDERSEN talks to two bright, young women who are passionate about rural health
WE’VE heard plenty about rural GP shortages in recent weeks, but the future is in great hands if these two young James Cook University medical students are any indication.
Aspiring rural generalist doctors Brooke Mackie and Katelyn Mccahon wanted to convince medical students from all over the country to be part of the solution and ‘go rural’. They brought some of rural health’s heavy hitters, including National Rural Health Commissioner Professor Ruth Stewart and Heart of Australia mobile cardiology service founder Dr Rolf Gomes, to Mackay for the Australian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA) Rural Health Summit on the weekend.
Both Brooke and Katelyn are from the bush. Katelyn is a graduate of Weipa’s Western Cape College and her family is now on a farm at Ravenshoe.
Brooke has lived in mining towns like
Weipa and Moranbah and home is her family’s property at Tannum Sands near Gladstone. “Katey and I have experienced the health deficits that rural communities face first hand, whether it be watching family members forced to relocate from their beloved hometown of 70 years for better health care or having to travel two hours to simply get a cast,” Brooke told the crowd at the summit. “We are therefore both passionate about rural health and giving back to the communities that raised us.”
“These communities that provide so much for Australia struggle to attain and retain doctors with up to 50 per cent fewer health providers per capita in rural areas.
“This is a key factor contributing to why people in rural communities have shorter life expectancy, increased levels of disease and overall poorer health outcomes compared with their urban counterparts.”
It’s a great thing for the rural areas that JCU is launching the careers of doctors, who, just like Brooke and Katey, are focused on delivering much improved medical care systems to those parts of Australia that are so used to being made to feel content with crumbs rather than the whole loaf.
Well, it’s people like Brooke and Katey and colleagues who share their vision who see no reason why they shouldn’t be getting the whole damn loaf.
SAD END FOR A LITTLE AUSSIE BATTLER
YOU can blame the hyper loud music and announcer-related noise at Cowboys’ games on the bin chooks that roost in the mangroves behind the stadium on Ross Creek. At least
It’s a great thing for the rural areas that JCU is launching the careers of doctors, who, just like Brooke and Katey, are focused on delivering much improved medical care systems to those parts of Australia that are so used to being made to feel content with crumbs rather than the whole loaf
that’s according to fans who are speculating that the audio shockwaves are designed to deter ibis from flying into The Thunderdome of Greatness.
Dr Google tells us that ultrasonic noise is best at repelling birds, which probably means that playing Metallica at 150db is like singing a lullaby to bin chooks and does nothing at all in terms of deterrence.
Again, there is no confirmation here, either from the Cowboys or Stadium Queensland that the whole audio shock and awe thingo has any merit.
Nothing to see here.
Fair enough, but two sources independent of each other reckon two of the creek-side bin chooks flew into the stadium last Saturday night and only one little bin chook flew out. The other one hit the stadium roof.
A snapper working at the game said he and a couple of his colleagues heard a collective gasp come from one section of the crowd which they believe was the moment the bin chook hit the roof inside the stadium and fell into the crowd.
Townsville woman Jasmine has a clear as crystal clip on Tiktok of it happening and an American agency tells its audience without one iota of sensitivity, mind you, that “Bin
chicken hits the roof and dies at footy game”, adding that “bin chickens are to Aussies what pigeons are to New Yorkers … essentially flying rats”.
I don’t know about that, over here in the wide brown land bin chooks might not be held in such high esteem as other native flora such as the wompoo and the cassowary, but they’re still seen as little Aussie battlers making their way through life the best way they can and if that means raiding bins, then why not? Rats? Definitely not.
We reserve that moniker for imports like Indian mynas and toads. In the meantime our bin chooks better learn to stay out of the stadium on game night.
THROWING THE BOOK AT LIBRARY BOUNCER
MATE Robert is in shock after encountering a bouncer at the Northtown council library. He had to self-check to make sure he hadn’t been on the sauce and hadn’t instead stumbled into the Mad Cow or one of his other regular haunts. No, there were books on the shelves, people sitting in chairs reading and even nodding off and librarians quietly checking everything was in order with their beloved Dewey decimal system. Yep, definitely a library.
He was a bit disappointed as it was mid-arvo and he was in half a mind to have a skirmish with a schooner anyway, but he holstered that idea when the looming security guard ambled over to check him out, no doubt to make sure he wasn’t indulging in some manner of criminality like trying to sneak in overdue books without paying the fine or about to open a crinkly packet of potato chips.
In any case he must have gleaned Robert offered no threat to humankind and gave him a cursory nod as he passed. “But,” Robert said when was speaking to me, “why is there security at the library? What is the world coming to?” And well we might ask. What is it coming to that we have to have bouncers patrolling a place of peace like a library?