Gunnedah doctor Sarah Woodford to train in Tamworth

Young doctor Sarah Woodford nee Clark has just finished her internship at John Hunter Hospital and has relocated to Kootingal with her husband Ryan to prepare for her residency year at Tamworth hospital.

Dr Woodford has long been active in the Australian Medical Students' Association Rural Health, and has been vocal about the need for more doctors in the country.

Read also:

In 2017, she told the NVI that it was the quick analysis and treatment of an injured femur in Sydney in her first year of study that made her determined to bring better health services to the country.

Dr Woodford said the experience had made her realise "how disadvantaged rural people are in terms of the health care they have access to".

"We're really stoked to be coming back. You really didn't have to try very hard to convince me to come back haha, especially when it's the closest I am been to home since I moved away for university," she said.

"The country has always been home for me, and we'll be back in the area for at least five years and probably longer, so I'm really excited to be doing, what will end up being a big chunk of my training, in the country."

Dr Woodford said they moved about two weeks ago but she was staying in Scone during the week for a rural general practice rotation, which is a new initiative.

"It's a wonderful opportunity to promote rural general practice to junior doctors, not only so we can experience it and learn and benefit from a training perspective, but because we won't become what we can't experience and Australia is in dire need of more rural GPs," she said.

"This is great for both junior doctors and the rural communities that could potentially benefit from it in the long term."

Dr Woodford hasn't chosen a specialty yet because she has "a wide range of interests".

"At this stage, I think it is likely that I will choose general practice so I can do a little bit of all of them," she said.

"Medicine is one big 'choose your own adventure' book, and so there's a few things that I can do next year, and I'm still unsure what that will look like exactly."

When Dr Woodford starts in Tamworth, she will be working in paediatrics, relief, emergency, and medical oncology/palliative care. Her family, the Clarks, live in Gunnedah.

"I'll be in Tamworth working at the hospital for most of the year and Ryan will be going back to university in Armidale to start his medical degree," she said.

"We were open to living anywhere in the middle of those two places to make it as fair as possible for both of us, and a great rental popped up in Kootingal so that's where we've landed.

"We're really looking forward to getting to know another rural community and get involved through church and sports and things."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: