DUBBO-based Indigenous Doctor of the Year Dr Raymond Gadd has sage advice for those who are contemplating following in his footsteps.
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“The most important thing is to finish high school and go to uni,” he said between treating patients at Dubbo Hospital this week.
“It doesn’t matter if the course you’re in is the course you want to do, because what can happen is you can get good marks in your first degree and then do any course you want to.
“Just persevere, keep going and don’t give up.
“The hardest thing about medicine is to get in.”
A “true rural generalist” in the eyes of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM), 38-year-old Brisbane-born Dr Gadd is speaking from experience
“I always wanted to be a doctor,” he told the Daily Liberal.
“Then I kind of didn’t think I was smart enough because I didn’t do that well at high school.
“I went to the University of Queensland to get my first degree and was actually encouraged to apply for medicine at the University of Newcastle.”
It was then he helped an obstetrics registrar deliver babies during a Shadow a Midwife Day.
“That’s when I definitely knew I wanted to do medicine,” Dr Gadd said.
In September the unassuming doctor was acknowledged for his wide-ranging contributions to it.
The Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association (AIDA) called him to Adelaide for its annual conference where the inaugural award was presented.
A founding member of AIDA who was awarded life membership this year, Dr Gadd did not expect to receive the gong.
“I probably got it because I do a lot of extra stuff,” he said.
A former Remote Vocational Training Scheme (RVTS) registrar who is now a Fellow of ACRRM, Dr Gadd’s “extra stuff” includes sitting on the RVTS board and contributing to its Aboriginal medical service stream reference group.
He embraces the role of instructor of emergency management and life support courses run by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and ACRRM, and has advised the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine international medical graduate cultural competency group on resources needed in emergency departments.
Dr Gadd has arranged “ACRRM practice examinations” for Indigenous GP registrars.
A doctor for 12 years, he is currently training at Dubbo Hospital to be a “GP anaesthetist”.
“I’m a rural doctor and other than an internship, I’ve only ever worked in country hospitals,” he said.
Postings have included remote Aboriginal settlements in the Northern Territory and Gulf of Carpentaria, along with Christmas and Mannus islands, and Yeppoon when Cyclone Marcia hit.
He is spreading the message that rural and remote medicine is “fun and good” as he considers what might be his “ideal job”.
It may involve working part-time both as a GP anaesthetist in a small emergency department and with the Royal Flying Doctor Service
Dr Gadd is one of about 200 Indigenous doctors currently practising in Australia, up from 10 when he attended the first AIDA meeting 18 years ago.
“To have parity with our population base it has to be 2000-ish,” he said.
