Medical mentoring program supports rural students and doctors
A unique mentoring program that matches medical students and junior doctors with clinicians across regional Victoria is open for new participants looking to gain insight into careers in rural medicine.
The Dr JuMP Medical Mentoring program, run by a collaboration of regional training hubs and rural workforce organisations, supports aspiring and emerging regional medical professionals across all stages of their career journey.
Monash medical student Brienna Allman was looking for guidance around her future career as she began navigating her first clinical placements in Gippsland last year.
“Looking at my teachers and consultants, I felt like there was such a long way to go between the third year of medical school to consultancy and beyond. I always wanted to ask these clinicians what they learnt along the journey and what advice they’d give to someone in my position now. How did they cope with the hard days, what kept them motivated and how to be a doctor when life gets in the way? There’s so much more to being a doctor than just medical science.”
Brienna was encouraged to sign up for the Dr JuMP Medical Mentoring program by the Gippsland Regional Training Hub. Brienna matched with a mentor based on her interests and future work goals - a female, rurally based GP who balances clinical practice with research and family. Over the past 6 months, Brienna has hugely benefited from this connection and genuine conversations about what life is really like as a doctor.
“My mentor is fantastic. My mentor has directly influenced my career trajectory just by taking the time to explain some of the differences between some of the colleges I was interested in. Through hearing her story, I have been able to visualise what it looks like to train and practice rurally. Beyond training and colleges though, from our very first session together we’ve had important conversations about the psychosocial aspects of practicing medicine; from setting boundaries for work-life balance and practicing medicine as a woman, to experiencing sexism and motherhood. These were tough but important conversations to have but if it wasn’t for this mentoring space, I don’t know when or where I would have had them.”
Brienna found her mentor has been invaluable in shaping her future career pathway and strengthened her connection to rural practice, and shared her experience at the Rural Training Pathways Congress in Gippsland last year.
“I have been very fortunate to have such an excellent experience. I encourage other medical students and junior doctors to sign up to become mentees.”
Gippsland Regional Training Hub Manager Amy Poynton encourages rural clinicians and general practitioners to consider signing up as mentors.
“Connecting to someone who has been in your shoes and learning from their experiences is important. As mentors, rural doctors can enhance a mentee’s connection to a regional community and help identify relevant local opportunities for them - which can be an important influence in keeping them in a regional area beyond a placement or rotation.”
Additional mentors are needed to meet the growing demand from program participants. Amy hopes that more students and junior doctors will be able to match with local mentors through the program in 2024.
“We would love more doctors in regional Victoria to consider sharing their experiences with the next generation and becoming mentors. Your mentorship can make a difference to the future medical workforce.”
Hear from Dr Dan Wilson and Dr Emma Mackinnon about their experiences as a mentor/mentee pair on the ‘Doctor What? Doctor Where?’ podcast. The pair connected over their shared interest in careers in rural generalism:
Applications for the Dr JuMP Medical Mentoring program are open on a rolling basis. Sign up as a mentee or mentor through the Dr JuMP Medical Mentoring website.
Monash 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.