Greg Howe never expected to live in a town where he’d have koalas in his backyard.
But now that he’s here, he has no plans to leave.
Originally from Sydney, Dr Howe got his first taste of Portland through the Deakin Medical School program and liked it so much that he stayed. He has just started his medical internship at Portland District Health, alongside Dr Branden Burgess, originally from Vancouver, Canada.
Both doctors were attracted by PDH’s innovative internship format which introduces a flexible approach to training rather than the traditional block rotations.
The interns spend one day a week in the Urgent Care Centre, one day in the Active Health GP clinic and three days on either medicine or surgery.
Dr Howe could be the poster boy for localised placement programs. The Deakin program and PDH medical internship are both designed to attract and retain doctors in Portland or encourage them to live and work in rural settings.
The opportunity to continue into an internship was an integral part of Dr Howe’s decision to live in Portland.
“In most hospitals you do rotation blocks with several months in each area but it is different in Portland because we are on a longitudinal program,” he said. “You get longer to find your feet and it’s better for patient continuity. You might see someone in Urgent Care and then on the ward and then as a GP after they go home.”
Dr Howe did his third-year placement in Portland as part of the Deakin Medical School program. “I liked it so much I moved here and stayed. It meant I had to commute to Warrnambool every day for all last year but it’s worth it in the long run.
“It’s a really nice spot and I was made to feel very welcome in the hospital and Active Health.”
Dr Howe is also impressed by the education opportunities. “For a town this size, the hospital is well set up for education. We’ve got physicians, emergency medicine consultants, surgeons and doctors who are all very experienced educators as well as experienced doctors.”
“Because there are only two interns, we get quite a lot of one-on-one time.”
“It’s an excellent program and a lot of work went into developing it. Speaking to the interns from last year, they definitely benefitted from it. Once I knew it was here, it was part of my reasoning for deciding to live in Portland.
Dr Howe’s background in nursing helped him to get into the Deakin Medical School and he’s happy with his choice.
“I came from Sydney and now the further I get away from the city, the less I miss it,” he said.
Dr Howe aims to go into rural general practice and stay in Portland “if everything goes to plan”.
“Mum and Dad have been down a few times. They’re very impressed by the fact I have koalas in my backyard.”
Dr Burgess completed his under-graduate study in his home city Vancouver, Canada before completing four years of medical training in Brisbane.
“I had some friends who had done their medical degrees in Australia,” he said. “They enjoyed the change of pace and I wanted to see a bit more of the world so I came here.”
During his medical training, Dr Burgess worked in a metropolitan hospital along with a regional general practice placement.
“I fell in love with regional medicine with its ability to be more one-on-one with patients and to deal with more complexity in care,” he said.
Dr Burgess wanted to explore more of Australia after COVID lockdowns and said the PDH internship was a good option.
“I’m in the early stages of my career and trying to weigh up if I want to pursue a career in primary care,” he said. “This is the only program that lets you work in a general practice clinic right from your intern year.”
PDH Director of Medical Services Andrew Walby said the PDH intern program provides a unique opportunity to develop clinical and leadership skills which would not be available in larger health services. “In the longer term, this will benefit them as doctors and the community that they serve,” he said.
Active Health Portland GP Marg Garde said she was excited to support the interns. “They are mature and experienced doctors who bring a unique set of skills to their role and also to the community,” Dr Garde said.
“Our patients have generously included them in their health care and we greatly appreciate the synergy that this develops for interns and their learning.”
“We are confident that the intern program will result in increased numbers of doctors wanting to train and remain in Portland.”
Photograph order: Dr Branden Burgess & Dr Greg Howe
