Case studies

So you want to be free to explore?

Let me show you life in primary care.

Being in general practice, people often think that you just spend all your day in an office, but you can definitely choose whatever you’d like to do with your day.

So I have spent time volunteering in Papua New Guinea. 

And I regularly volunteer with a medical van delivering medical care to the homeless.

I really appreciate that in primary care you are able to choose your own time and you can decide how you want to spend it.

Having a cup of tea and a chat with patients, particularly with the homeless community actually makes a very big difference because a lot of those populations are marginalised.

Primary care really helps to open up the whole life experience of people.

In their difficult moments and in their joyful moments.

I really enjoy sharing those moments with them.

It's a privilege.

So, what do you think?

Want to join the team?

So do you want to be a kinder ear in the country?

Let's talk about being a lifeline for the community.

I first started in Warrigal about 20 years ago.

When I first came, I would come down here, see one or two clients and then over time my practise built up.

So I have clients that I've been seeing since that first day that I started here.

Working in primary care allows you to create something of your own.

It also means that I can be flexible in the way I am providing therapies.

That's a major difference between what we can do here in primary care compared to the other services.

Working in a small town allows me to get to know the clients, get to know the culture.

The people in a rural area are very inviting, they're very warm.

We get people from the whole developmental range, so from like 3 or 4 years old all the way up to 95.

We've worked really hard on trying to provide an open door for anyone to come in here.

It allows us to create a welcoming environment so people can just pop in and have a cuppa when they're feeling a bit overwhelmed by the chaos outside.

So I really appreciate that what we're doing here at McDowell House is actually creating a safe place in this community.

Nothing beats making a genuine impact on the community, and primary care lets you do it.

So, do you want to join the team?

So you want to be a pharmacist somewhere extraordinary.

You've come to the right place.

Karratha is incredible.

We've got this blue, blue sky, the deep red earth.

Working as a pharmacist in a regional area can expose you to some unique job experiences.

One time I was sent offshore by helicopter to undertake medical inspections.

So that was something that I never expected would happen.

I think you can make a massive impact in the regions.

Often people are isolated from family, travel, away from work and you can really be that that person to help build those relationships and connect them up with other health professionals.

One of the unique services we're involved with is collaborating with local Aboriginal health services so that we can speak to them about their medication management.

Trying to close those gaps that exist is really, really important, especially to vulnerable communities.

It's a really great feeling to know that you're helping people who really need it.

So what do you think?

Have I convinced you?

Do you want to join the team?

So you want to be AGP and work with refugees?

Let's talk about it.

We started out with a dream.

We wanted to build a healthcare space that is tailored to the needs of refugees and asylum seekers.

And so we engaged with the community to build a service tailored to meet their needs.

We have a wonderful team at this clinic.

We also run a programme here for people suffering from loneliness and isolation, and it helps people engage with the healthcare system and with each other in the community.

The real reward is in the work.

It enables us to make meaningful changes in people's lives.

For me personally, it's building trust with the patients and seeing them improve and get better with time.

In primary care.

We get to make these changes in people's lives every day.

Primary care is rewarding, challenging and stimulating.

Want to join the team?

So you want to be a doctor delivering community care?

This is how we do it.

My name is Doctor Muhammad al Brahimi and I'm the founder of People First Healthcare.

As a migrant, I came to Australia.

I've always wanted to get into healthcare.

That was my passion, giving back to the community.

That's what inspired me.

A lot of the people in my community, Middle Eastern migrant community, need help accessing healthcare.

They come in here and we have all the services at their fingertip.

Allied health, Optometry, radiology and in home services.

The community get together.

It's an amazing initiative.

We provide services to vulnerable people in the community.

It's an amazing job.

I recommend it to anyone who wants to help people working alongside clinicians from different discipline to provide service to the community.

Our philosophy is very simple, community care, compassion and love, one person and one case at a time.

What are you waiting for?

Come join the team.

So you want to be an expert in everything?

Let's see how that could work.

I went to primary care because I felt specialising was too narrow for me.

I started my own practise because I want to address the patient's whole health and not a piece of it.

That's where acupuncture came into it.

Sometimes the only option to treat pain is to escalate medications, but for many patients that's not ideal.

In between appointments, I now offer acupuncture sessions, introducing needles into pressure pain points to provide relief.

People tend to think that GPs just do scripts and referrals, but it's much broader than that.

We are managing complex conditions, utilising deals from all kinds of specialties.

I set up a practise in Fairfield because that's where I grew up.

It's always been a place for our arrivals and refugees and I'm really proud of what we have achieved here.

I have treated their parents, their kids and their kids' kids.

Being entrusted to treat the whole community is as rewarding as it gets.

Primary care gave me the freedom to make an impact on my own terms.

So what do you think?

Want to join the team?

So you want to be a voice of change for the community? Let's chat. 

When I started practicing, there were two registered Turkish speaking psychologists. 

The Turkish community viewed going to a psychologist as something significantly wrong with you, whereas that stigma has slowly, slowly reduced now. 

It makes me feel very proud of our community and how far we're coming our main goal in primary health care is to help build trust with clients who come to see us, 

And we hope to help them achieve their goals to go out back into the community feeling empowered with all the skills that they need 

I think the most important thing is being able to deliver therapy in the language of the client. 

When there's just the client and just you as a therapist doing the therapy in their preferred language, it is far more effective. 

I definitely feel very proud to be working in the primary health care field. 

If you would like a really wholesome job where you feel really good about the contributions that you're making to the community then this job is definitely for you. 

So do you want to join the team? 

My name is Gareth Wheeldon. I'm a community pharmacist working in the ACT. I studied at Charles Sturt University in Wagga, moved to Canberra where I'm practicing now. I did my intern year, with the pharmacy group that I'm currently working with and basically just progressed from there. Certainly these days there is a range of other options to be able to access pharmacy training.

When I first started, vaccination was something that pharmacists wouldn't do. I was scared of needles, I hate needles. But now that's kind of the thing that I enjoy the most about the role now. I'm doing more, I suppose, community engagement with different vaccination services throughout the community. There's a bit of a gap at different times in terms of accessibility to different range of health care services.

So we try to to help out and take a bit of pressure off. So enabling people to get timely access to vaccinations, timely access to some of the other screening services that they may need, to make sure they have, continued, good health. We, went down the path of some inclusivity training, which basically provide a range of support and outreach services to LGBTQi+ community as well as those suffering from HIV and a range of other, sexually transmitted infections, and giving them that option to access health care in a slightly different manner than what they may have done in the past.

Being able to to go outside of the pharmacy walls, to be able to, work with people in a community, perhaps an isolated community, doing these sorts of things, you certainly do feel a sense of satisfaction, a sense of achievement. To be successful in pharmacy. Be a good person. It's something that being able to talk to people change, with the differing needs of the community, differing needs of pharmacy.

Don't be afraid to to ask a question, because usually if you're asking that question, somebody else wants to know the answer as well. Met my wife, in pharmacy school down in Wagga Wagga, working closely to make sure that people get healthy, stay healthy and basically just help where we can. The joy of pharmacy is that essentially is that customer service part of the role as well?

Sometimes people aren't their best when they come in. You certainly do feel a sense of satisfaction, a sense of achievement. And it is a lovely feeling to know that you've made a difference. Yeah, it's certainly a good feeling each day.