Rural Doctors' Association of NSW

03/12/2025

🎉 Congratulations to our exceptional rural GPs! 🎉

We are proud to recognise Dr John Marshman, recipient of the Bill Hunter Award, and Dr Charles Evill, recipient of the Bowman Cutter Award, for their extraordinary service to their rural communities and to the profession.

Dr John Marshman was honoured with the Bill Hunter Award for more than 36 years of dedicated service to rural health and his community, providing compassionate, cradle-to-grave care to multiple generations across the Bega and Tathra region.

Dr Charles Evill received the Bowman Cutter Award for his exceptional service to the Rural Doctors' Association of NSW and his outstanding leadership in rural health advocacy. Dr Evill is the immediate Past President of RDA NSW and has contributed over a decade of service to the Association in various roles.

The awards were announced by Dr Rachel Christmas, President of RDA NSW, during the conference dinner at the Hilton Sydney on the final day of the Rural GPs Conference. This annual event is co-hosted by the Rural Doctors Network (RDN) and RDA NSW, with support from the NSW Ministry of Health.

👏 Please join us in celebrating these incredible doctors and their unwavering commitment to rural communities!

The Rural Doctors Association of NSW (RDA NSW) has recognised two exceptional rural doctors for their extraordinary service to their communities and to the profession, announcing the recipients of the Bill Hunter Award and Bowman Cutter Award at the Rural GPs Conference on Saturday, 29 November 2025...

28/11/2025

🚨 Scholarship applications close on Sunday!

Are you passionate about rural health?
We are offering scholarships to Charles Sturt University health students!

🏡 Rural Postgraduate Scholarship – up to $5,000 for registered health professionals working in rural areas within our footprint to enhance local health outcomes.

📘 Postgraduate Scholarship – up to $5,400 for health professionals from eligible rural postcodes pursuing aged care-focused graduate certificates.

🌿 First Nations Scholarship – up to $10,000 for First Nations students from eligible rural postcodes studying health courses with a focus on aged care.

👉 Head to threerivers.csu.edu.au/scholarships for more information.

Applications close 11.59pm on 30 November 2025 – don’t miss out!


Charles Sturt University TEQSA PRV12018 (Australian University) CRICOS 00005F

17/11/2025

Today, Dr Rachel Christmas, President, Rural Doctors' Association NSW met with Dr Joe McGirr to launch an open letter to the Health Minister.

Check out the 6 point action plan at https://joemcgirr.com.au/rhap

It was great to be joined today by the president of the Rural Doctors’ Association, Dr Rachel Christmas, to launch an open letter to the Health Minister, calling for important reform to rural and regional health care.

The open letter calls on the government to implement the six-point Rural Health Action Plan, which has the support of more than 20 medical, community and local government agencies.

We are calling on the government to take action now so that regional and rural communities get the health services they deserve, and I look forward to working with the minister to make these reforms a reality.

You can see the plan at https://joemcgirr.com.au/rhap

17/11/2025

⚠️ Our next Awards podcast for 2025 has dropped! ⚠️

This one features the incredible Dr Jean Littlewood, RDAA's Rural Doctor in Training of the Year. 🤩

Jean is an absolute dynamo of Rural Medicine, and the phrase she coined – ‘Guilt is not a rural recruitment strategy’ – has taken on a life of its own!

Now in her final year of Rural Generalist training with the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM), she’s already contributed to the work of numerous organisations, including serving for 3 years on the Rural Doctors' Association of NSW Management Committee.

One of her most impactful contributions while on that Committee was the part she played in gaining a fairer deal for NSW’s rurally-based Junior Medical Officers (JMOs) when they undertake rotations to metropolitan hospitals.

Jean is currently working and training in the North West NSW town of Coonabarabran...and if she’s not busy enough already, she still finds time to take to the field for a game or two of country rugby union – a sport she’s played at a NSW representative level.

Listen to our podcast on YouTube:
https://bit.ly/4p9tnPu

Listen via Buzzsprout:
https://bit.ly/4p3OYsp

Rural Doctors' Association of NSW Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) Warrumbungle Medical Centre NSW Health Western NSW Local Health District Rural Doctors Network - RDN Rural Doctors Foundation

16/11/2025

RDAA President Dr Sarah Chalmers & Chair of RACGP’s Rural Council Dr Michael Clements’ announced our joint bursary to support 10 medical students undertake a placement in rural general practice at GP25

12/11/2025

12/11/2025

⏰ Only two weeks left to apply for Rural Generalist training in 2026!

If you’re still deciding where to take your career, join our upcoming webinar showcasing the incredible lifestyle, training opportunities, and community connections waiting for you in SA and WA!

Hear from doctors who live and work there, and discover why now is the perfect time to start your rural journey.

👉 Register now: https://bit.ly/4oC3oAg

11/11/2025

🩺 Do you manage a general practice in a Hunter or New England MMM 3–7 area? You could be eligible for a $15,000 GP Relocation & Retention Grant to incentivise a GP to:
✅ Relocate a GP from outside the region
✅ Retain a current registrar
✅ A total of eight grants x $15,000 are available in 2025. Apply before 30 November 2025.

https://thephn.com.au/news/15-000-grants-now-open-to-support-gps-moving-to-or-staying-in-regional-nsw

09/11/2025

Applications for Round 2 of the Health Workforce Scholarship Program (HWSP) close on Wednesday 12 November 2025.

Learn more and apply👉 https://loom.ly/6xVbhZ0

An initiative of the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, and administered in New South Wales by RDN, HWSP provides scholarships and bursaries to help health professionals in rural and remote Australia retain and enhance their skills, capacity and scope of practice.

The HWSP is available to , , , , and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health professionals providing primary health care in the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS) sector, non-government organisations and private practice.

Due to the success of HWSP, processes, timings, and guidelines have been reviewed and updated and are now available on RDN’s webpage.

06/11/2025

❗️The RDA NSW is warning that some LHDs appear to be planning for future health service provision in a handful of their larger regional towns only, with an increased focus on technology to provide virtual access to care (or increased travel to the larger centres for care) for those living in smaller, outlying communities.

🏪 RDA NSW’s concern was sparked by a written message from the Chief Executive of the Western NSW Local Health District (LHD), Mr Mark Spittal, indicating that over the next year, the LHD ‘will put more focus on how the regional services in our larger cities [Bathurst, Orange and Dubbo] and the procedurals (sic) services in our four intermediate communities of Cowra, Forbes, Parkes, and Mudgee work together. That's where 78% of our people will soon live.’

🧐Read more about why the NSW Government should require its Local Health Districts (LHDs) to retain local emergency and other health services for all communities across their districts in their future planning, and to fund LHDs more appropriately to support this.

The Rural Doctors’ Association of NSW (RDANSW) has urged the NSW Government to require its Local Health Districts (LHDs) to retain local emergency and other health services for all communities across their districts in their future planning, and to fund LHDs more appropriately to support this – ...

28/10/2025

Meet Dr James Sterrey, proud RDN Cadet alumnus, and speaker at this year's Medical Student Rural Inspiration Conference.

Dr Sterrey is an Ophthalmologist and proud former RDN Rural Resident Medical Officer Cadet. After training around Australia, Dr Sterrey and his family are settling in , NSW. His interests outside of medicine include camping 🏕️ old cars 🚘 and amateur farming. 🧑‍🌾

At the Conference, Dr Sterrey will be one of the regional specialists involved in the dynamic chat session called 'Ask Me Anything: Real Talk on Regional Speciality Training Pathways'. It will be a space for open, honest conversations about the realities and rewards of specialty training in regional settings.

The chat corner will also include specialists training in ED, Anaesthetics, Surgery, Geriatrics, Palliative Care, Dermatology, Psychiatry and BPT.

Don't miss out on the medical student conference of the year to be held on Saturday 29 November at the Hilton Sydney! Register now 👉 https://loom.ly/quIGNmU