Tackling the GP shortage

New doctor takes up the challenge as part of new program aimed at filling GP gap

By Kirra Livingstone

JUNIOR doctor Jessie Da Cunha Costa is set to join the Landsborough and Mooloolah Medical Centres as part of a new program aimed at filling the gap in regional and rural GP services.
Dr Da Cunha Costa will be the first doctor on the Sunshine Coast to take part in the John Flynn Prevocational Doctor Program (JFPDP).
Landsborough Medical Centre practice manager Andrea Blackmore, said it was going to be a great opportunity for new doctors who applied for the program to “experience general practice, choose that as their speciality, and stay on the Sunshine Coast”.
Dr Da Cunha Costa (pictured) said she was excited by the opportunity, which was part of a lifelong dream to be a doctor.
“There wasn’t really any sort of aha moment, it’s just something that I’ve always wanted to do,” she said.
“We had a fantastic GP when I was little, my brother also has a disability so he was always surrounded by doctors so I just feel like its something that I was always drawn to.
“I thought if I get the grades and I get in, then that’s what I’m meant to be doing.”
Dr Da Cunha Costa said she hoped this will influence junior doctors unsure about specialisation, to consider general practice.
“I’m just excited to see what it’s like to be in general practice and being in the community,” Dr Da Cunha Costa said.
“Also having someone come through your door that you don’t know, and you only have 10 to 15 minutes to figure out what to do takes a lot of knowledge about different conditions.”
The 25-year-old doctor was surprised but honoured when she found out she was the first JFPDP participant in the Sunshine Coast.
“I am very grateful that what I wanted to do is get an experience in GP as a junior doctor without actually applying for the fellowship straight away,” Dr Da Cunha Costa said.
“When I saw this was an option and on the Sunshine Coast, I knew I had to do this.” Ms Blackmore said she would work across both practices.
“(Doctors) get to walk a journey with a patient throughout their life span, if you are here in the long term, and in our practice in particular we are very fortunate to have that opportunity, a lot of our patients have been coming here since they were kids, now they’re bringing their kids in which is an absolutely beautiful experience,” she said.

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