Researchers from the Rural Clinical School of WA (RCSWA) are surveying rural doctors across the State about how they access healthcare for themselves and their families. 

RCSWA’s Healthcare Access for Rural Practitioners (HARP) project has just been awarded a Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Education Research Grant of almost $150,000 to launch this first-of-its-kind enquiry. 

HARP Project Coordinator Dr Emma Griffiths said the research team was excited to receive the grant, which would allow them to invite more participants and conduct face-to-face interviews. 

Dr Griffiths said it could be difficult for rural Australian doctors to access healthcare for themselves and their families in local communities because personal and professional relationships could be very intertwined. 

“We want to hear from doctors who have lived and worked in rural or remote WA for at least 12 months so we can advocate for more education and support for rural doctors’ health,” she said.  

“The importance of rural doctors’ health on the stability of the rural workforce should not be underestimated.”

Doctors participate in a 15-minute online survey and/or register for a face-to-face interview with a researcher to describe their experiences in more detail. 

This research project is supported by RACGP with funding from the Australian Government’s Australian General Practice Training Program. The project is approved by The University of Western Australia (UWA) Research Ethics Committee. 

Take the survey here.

Register for a face-to-face interview here.

For more information, contact [email protected]

Image: HARP researchers Dr Emma Griffiths and Steve Pratt in Broome.