+61 2 4924 8000
From an internship in Wagga Wagga to loving it so much she didn’t leave - meet former RDN Cadet Dr Rachael Fikkers
18th October 2024
As RDN celebrates 35 years of the NSW Rural Resident Medical Officer Cadetship program and current cadets excitedly count down to the Student Inspiration Conference in November, former RDN Cadet, Dr Rachel Fikkers, reflects on how an RDN Cadetship changed her life for the better.
RDN Member and former RDN Cadet, Dr Rachael Fikkers, always knew a rural medical placement was on the cards. However, when an internship and residency took her to Wagga Wagga in NSW, what she didn’t anticipate was loving the tree change so much that she wouldn't want to leave!
Dr Fikkers is currently the Senior Medical Officer at the Riverina Medical and Dental Aboriginal Corporation and, after moving to Wagga Wagga with her husband and four children 14 years ago, is proud to call it home.
“I was lucky enough to obtain an RDN rural Cadetship which gave me some financial support whilst studying full-time and brought me to Wagga Wagga for my internship and residency years,” Dr Fikkers said.
“I was struggling financially…and the cadetship offered an opportunity to relieve some of that burden.
“Moving to Wagga Wagga was an amazing adventure for our family; there were great opportunities for my husband for work, and our kids settled in really well…we love Wagga Wagga…” Dr Fikkers said.
Dr Fikkers was born in Nowra and grew up in Dapto from the age of five. Being a health professional was in the family as her mother was a nurse and her sister went on to do nursing also. However, Dr Fikkers’ passion for “good food, wine and travel” may have come from her father – he was a cook in the Navy before becoming a French cuisine chef and then a gardener!
Dr Fikkers completed a Medical Science Degree at the University of Wollongong part-time, with all four of her children born during the completion of her degree (and all in the Christmas holidays!).
After taking some time off from study and working part-time in accounts and payroll for the local football club, Dr Fikkers said she was unsure what she wanted to do with her degree.
“…Medicine was difficult at the time as I would need to move, or commute, to Sydney for this. It wasn't until the University of Wollongong offered Medicine that I thought this might be a possibility, so I sat the Graduate Medical School Admissions Test (GAMSAT) and applied. I was lucky enough to be offered a Bonded Medical Place!” she said.
The Bonded Medical Program helps address the shortage of medical professionals in regional, rural and remote areas of Australia. It provides a Commonwealth Supported Place in a medical course in exchange for participants working in those areas after they graduate.
When Dr Fikkers’ youngest child started kindergarten, so began the start of her medical degree at the University of Wollongong (Shoalhaven Campus). During this time, she also received a Rural Resident Medical Officer Cadetship offer and it applied to her final two years of medical school in 2010 and 2011.
“I was lucky enough to obtain an RDN rural Cadetship which gave me some financial support whilst studying full-time and brought me to Wagga Wagga for my internship and residency years.
“I was struggling financially (having four kids and a mortgage on a single income) and the cadetship offered an opportunity to relieve some of that burden.
“I had a Bonded Medical Place, so knew I needed to relocate to an area of workforce shortage, so a rural placement was already on the cards for me. What I did not anticipate was loving the tree change so much and deciding to stay long term,” she said.
Dr Fikkers said her family had an amazing relationship with their regular GP and so she realised from the beginning that it was the type of medicine she wanted to practice.
“I was exposed to rural medicine during my degree, with placements in Gerringong, Milton, and Nowra. I realised that the relationship between patients and their GP in rural areas was unique and I loved that aspect of the job.”
Dr Fikkers started her GP career as a GPT1 registrar at the local ACCHO and, during her career, has received recognition for her dedication to Indigenous Health, including being awarded the Registrar of The Year Award for her dedication to Indigenous Health and GP Registrar wellbeing.
“I saw first-hand the struggles and barriers faced by the local Aboriginal community and became passionate about trying to help,” Dr Fikkers said.
“The work is challenging but also very rewarding and I have developed an amazing relationship with the staff and community that I serve.
“I hope to help educate non-Aboriginal community members about the challenges faced by the Aboriginal community and how we can best help.”
As well as her passion for Indigenous Health, Dr Fikkers is very well respected for her dedication to women’s health and antenatal care. However, Dr Fikkers says she actually came into women's health “a bit by accident”.
“I was working as a PGY2 junior doctor in the Obstetrics team. The Obstetrics director at the time approached me and suggested I apply for a Rural Generalist position for the following year in Obstetrics. I was already accepted onto the AGPT training pathway, having applied in my internship year, but did not have a practice in mind to start working at yet. So I applied and was accepted and I went on to complete a year in Obstetrics and obtained my DRANZCOG Advanced qualification. Since that time, I have been working in the local ACCHO doing antenatal shared care with my Obstetric colleagues and we have built a great team.
“Our women can be quite complex from a pregnancy perspective, so having a trained team working in their local AMS means they are more likely to engage with Obstetric services and receive the specialist care they need.”
The “RivMed Clinic” where Dr Fikkers works is a long-established Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation in the heart of Wiradjuri Country. She said that when it comes to her job, the best is not only the people she works with, but the care they are able to provide to the community.
“ACCHOS are well placed to provide wholistic, multidisciplinary care to Aboriginal people in a culturally safe way, and this is exactly the type of medicine I had always wanted to practice.
“We treat not only the medical condition in front of us, but also provide supports around food insecurity, homelessness, social and emotional wellbeing, AOD supports and more.
“Wrap around team care is the ideal model and we are able to provide this in our service,” she said.
When asked what she loves most about living and working in a rural area, Dr Fikkers explained that it was the relationships with her colleagues.
“When training as a junior doctor, there are less members of the specialist team so you have more opportunity to develop your skills at an earlier stage of your career, and you build relationships with your hospital colleagues that are invaluable when you are in the community.
“There are also plenty of opportunities to be involved in extra-curricular projects. For instance, I had the opportunity to develop advanced skills in Obstetrics, I was offered a teaching role at UNSW rural clinical school, I am the Chairperson for the local PHN Clinical Council, and I am often asked to sit on working groups and committees to advise on how we can make Primary Care better for everyone. It is a privilege to be involved in policy change and Primary Care advancement.”
Outside of work, Wagga Wagga also ticks all the boxes for Dr Fikkers too.
“I have a passion for good food, wine and travel. My husband and I are now in a position to travel more (our kids being grown now), so we take every opportunity we can. The best thing about moving rurally is that we have discovered some hidden gems close to home that we frequent when we only have a weekend available.
“We are ideally placed half way between Sydney and Melbourne so it is a short flight in either direction for a big city escape as well.”
Celebrating 35 years of cadetships
This year marks 35 years of the NSW Rural Resident Medical Officer Cadetship Program, which is funded by the NSW Ministry of Health, and has been administered by Rural Doctors Network (RDN) since 1993. The Program has been highly successful in drawing medical students toward careers serving remote, rural and regional areas and an Indigenous Cadetship program was added in 2012.
During Rural Health Month in November, RDN cadets will be amongst those gathering at Manly in Sydney for the Medical Student Rural Inspiration Conference and for the official launch of the Cadet Alumni Program, which will enable current and former cadets to share insights shaping the future of rural health and connect with peers.
Read more about the successful program in the latest Spring edition of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) of NSW - The NSW Doctor magazine, here.
Related reading
