Innovative young doctors lead rural health care at DRIVERS 2023
Over 130 junior doctors, medical students, clinicians and researchers gathered to share the latest emerging rural health research at the annual Doctors for Regional Innovation, Vision, Excellence, Research and Scholarship (DRIVERS) conference on Saturday 23 September 2023 in Bendigo.
From the impacts of intimate partner violence on the brain, correlations of increasing financial insecurity impacting on health, end-to-end rural psychiatry training, the Victorian Mental Health Royal Commission to how tools developed for surgery in space can be used in remote health, DRIVERS highlighted a broad range of thought-provoking topics in medical research, quality improvement and clinical case studies across over 60 presentations. Attendees also heard from three inspiring keynote speakers - Dr Louis Peachey, Professor Robyn Langham and Associate Professor Cris Cuthbertson and a Gala address from the dancing doctor Dr Richard Mayes - who shared their diverse career stories across rural medicine and research.
Hosted by Monash Rural Health’s North West Victoria Regional Training Hub, DRIVERS was established in 2021 to shed light on the opportunities and challenges unique to rural healthcare and health service delivery and support the next generation of rural doctors. The conference - which now boasts attendance from across Australia - showcases excellence in regional medicine and fosters important discussions to further drive innovation and improve patient care in rural communities.
Third-year medical student Luke Ibbotson presented his research on lung care diagnosis and referral processes in Gippsland - where he is currently completing his clinical placement with Latrobe Regional Health.
"My participation at the DRIVERS conference proved to be an invaluable opportunity…. It was a truly incredible experience to speak amidst such highly accredited academics from across regional Australia, and hopefully, I can return in future years with further research experience and projects!"
Led by a steering and scientific committee of recently graduated doctors working in the Loddon Mallee region, the conference is described as ‘being for rural junior doctors, by rural junior doctors’. Dr Jess Paynter, a local Bendigo doctor and co-chair of the DRIVERS Scientific Committee, noted the conference had grown in scope and significance since its first year.
“The conference has evolved post-COVID from mostly online to this huge space in Bendigo, where we have people travelling from New South Wales, South Australia and Flinders Island, Tasmania. The word has gotten out that DRIVERS is the place to be for rural junior doctors and medical students.”
Deputy Dean of Medicine at Monash University, Professor Michelle Leech, was thrilled to attend the conference and gala dinner in person this year.
“I am so inspired by the way these young doctors and medical students from across rural locations are standing up and driving research.”
2023 saw increased numbers of medical students attending and presenting at the event, Professor Leech noted that DRIVERS improves access and opportunities to research within regional healthcare settings, and is an impactful networking and mentoring platform.
“What’s great about a conference like this is that it demonstrates clearly that research has no postcode. You can have high-quality research output from anywhere, you don’t have to be located in the city to do great research - there are diverse, quality research opportunities in the country, a lot of areas of need and many unanswered questions. Events like DRIVERS are important for our medical students to come and see these junior doctors advancing their careers, publishing, and growing their CVs. It’s really good role modelling for medical students to see that they can access training pathways and keep their academic career going wherever they are.”
Following the growing success of DRIVERS, the North West Victoria Regional Training Hub is pleased to announce the conference will run again in Bendigo in 2024.
DRIVERS 2023 award recipients
Twelve awards were presented at the DRIVER’s gala dinner, acknowledging the excellence and innovation of rural research showcased at the event. Presentations were rigorously judged by Monash University academics and esteemed Consultant doctors from the Loddon Mallee region.
Congratulations to the award winners:
- Best Scientific Presentation: Dr Jessica Paynter for ‘Colorectal Cancer Surgery Patients in Intensive Care By Hospital Type: A Bi-National Cohort Study Over 10 Years’.
- Best Quality Improvement Project: Karan Varshney for ‘Is Financial Insecurity a Determinant of Poor Outcomes Among Medical Students Undergoing Rural Clinical Placements?’.
- Best Case Study Presentation: Dr Jess Wynn for ‘Bladder Rupture: An Isolated Injury in a Fall From Standing Height’.
- Best Scientific Poster: Tusyita Menon for ‘Neurological Outcomes Post-Traumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review on Intimate Partner Violence’.
- Best Rural Research Poster: Dr Maddie Leung for ‘Insights from Mildura’s first End to End Psychiatry Trainee’.
- Best Visionary Presentation: Luke Ibbotson for ‘Lung Cancer Diagnosis and Referral Processes in Gippsland: Primary Care Perspective’.
- Most Impactful Rural Presentation: Lois Segun-Beloved for ‘Factors Associated with Non-Presentation in a Multidisciplinary Team Meeting for Lung Cancer: A Retrospective Cohort Study in Regional Australia’.
- Best Rural Insight Presentation: Dr Amy Sylivris for ‘Enhanced Recovery After Surgery in the Rural Setting: Are There Lessons to be Learnt from the Covid-19 Pandemic?’.
- Best Reflective Presentation: Dr Thomas Neerhut for ‘Surgical Teamwork Through the Junior Lens: A Qualitative Study of Surgical Residents and Registrars Perspectives on Surgical Teamwork’.
- Most Innovative Reflective Presentation: Oliver Little for ‘Medical Student’s Perceptions of General Practice and the Influence of Different Employment Models’.
- Regional Training Hub Director’s Award: Crystelle Vanderplas for ‘Why Medical Students Must Experience Rural Medicine: A Final Year Student's Reflection From a GP Placement on a Remote Island in Tasmania’.
- DRIVERS Honorary Mention: Dr Jasmine Elliott for ‘Victorian Royal Commission - What the Loddon Mallee Said’.
Pictured: Dr Richard Mayes, Monash medical student Luke Ibbotson and Professor Shane Bullock (Head of School, Monash Rural Health).
Monash Rural Health Regional Training Hubs
The Monash Rural Health Regional Training Hubs facilitate speciality training and career development opportunities for junior doctors, to help them live, work and train rurally. The Monash Regional Training Hubs are supported by the Department of Health and Aged Care's Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training Program.