Simone Mulder, 35, is from Holland and moved to Australia with her partner in July.

According to long time Dubbo obstetrician Dr Geoff Jakel it has been 16 years since Dubbo has had a full complement of four obstetrics specialists and to have one who is female is an added bonus.

Dr Mulder began working at the centre on Tuesday and said her duties here weren’t all that different to what she did in Holland.

She said if anything she would like to carry out ultra-sounds on her patients here, something that currently doesn’t happen.

“The level of care and service here isn’t all that different to what it was like in Holland,” Dr Mulder said.

“Holland is similar to here but the country is very small, smaller than Tasmania.

“One thing I will have to remember here is that patients are travelling some two hours for a visit, and I can’t just call them back a week later as we would do in Holland,” she said.

Dr Mulder said she was hoping to stay in Dubbo for a long time, as long as she and her partner were happy, and said her first impressions of the city had been pleasing.

Dr Jakel said he and the obstetrics team at Dubbo were excited to have Dr Mulder on board and he believed that having a woman in the team would mean greater choice for Dubbo patients.

“We are very excited, Dr Mulder will make a big difference,” Dr Jakel said.

“We are hoping to attract younger obstetrician graduates out west so that some of our more senior specialists can retire in the next few years.”

anna.yeo@ruralpress.com