Hunter New England Health find a VMO for Walcha MPS

“The job is similar to what I was doing. I was training as a registrar in Inglewood in Queensland for two years in a setting that is very much like here,” Dr Deng Abiem said. “It was a general practice clinic with three doctors visiting patients in the hospital and being on call. It was also a single practice town, but it was probably a bit busier than here.”

As the only VMO Dr Abiem said, he has strategies in place with Hunter New England Health to prevent burn out.

“I will take a few days off when I feel I need them,” he said.

“This community is quite appreciative of the doctor service, so when people present to the hospital, they are really unwell. So when I get a call, I know this is something that I need to see. Obviously, the nature of the work changes each week but so far it is manageable and it all averages out.”

Dr Abiem said the demographics of Inglewood, an aging population with a strong agricultural industry, were also on par with Walcha.

“There was also a lot of trauma cases as it is on the Cunningham Highway,” he said.

Walcha Hospital has been without a permanent VMO since Dr Allen retired from the position in June 2017, however HNEH have been searching for a replacement since September 2016.