Recruiting general practitioners to rural areas: one community's experience.
The rural community of Dalwallinu found itself without a medical practitioner early in 1995. Believing recruitment of a replacement practitioner would be relatively straightforward, the Shire and the Hospital Board combined for this process. Little did we realise that there would be many factors that would impinge upon our ability to recruit a general practitioner (GP) other than the availability of a suitably qualified practitioner. Locum availability, providing a furnished house, a motor car, becoming the employer of the locum practitioner, community reactions, government regulations on recruiting doctors trained overseas, Health Department restructures and the arbitrary regulations of professions all had a significant impact, not to mention the cost to the local council to provide a community service.
Mills
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Dalwallinu District Hospital Board, Pithara, Australia.
D005194:Family Practice; D006801:Humans; D010560:Personnel Selection; D019035:Rural Health Services; D014904:Western Australia; D000078329:Workforce