Rural life the right medicine

The school was established in 2002 in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at UWA to attract more doctors to rural practice.

Senior medical students spend the year in a rural town.

Mr Stewart grew up in Eaton, near Bunbury, and said everyone in Northam and at the school had been helpful and very friendly towards the students.

He said he had not yet chosen a field of medicine to pursue but would definitely consider moving to a rural town like Northam to work.

‘There are a lot of great and interesting areas of medicine and it’s been so great this year to be exposed to what rural medicine involves,’ he said.

‘Sometimes I think it’s really nice to be away from a busy city and to be so close to everything.

‘From the exposure I’ve had so far, I feel that the services available here are of a high quality and run by very passionate and dedicated people.’

He said the four students had been inundated with offers to get involved in local sports and clubs.

‘It’s been great and we’ve all been trying to find the time to be involved in as much as we can,’ Mr Stewart said.

‘I’ve especially enjoyed playing social sports at the Northam Recreation Centre, playing tennis and playing squash.’