Flinders University congratulates Mount Gambier’s Hawkins Clinic and alumnus Dr Raphael Torome on their national wins for 2019 General Practice of the Year, and General Practice Supervisor of the Year respectively.
The Royal Australian College for General Practice (RACGP) announced its national awards in late October, recognising the contributions of a key regional partner and alumni from Flinders’ College of Medicine and Public Health, together with the stellar learning opportunities available to Flinders’ medical students.
Riverland practitioner Dr Raphael Torome, (GradCertClinEd ‘07), works at the Lake Bonney Private Medical Centre in Barmera, which currently hosts two Flinders medical students on placement. Together with general practice, Dr Torome’s key interests include men’s health, geriatrics and skin cancer.
Hawkins Clinic is also home to Flinders graduates, with Dr Scott Milan, (BMBS(GradEntry) ‘05), Dr Julie Tullett (BMBS(GradEntry) ‘10), Dr Diana Cross (BMBS 1982) who are all partners in the practice, and practice Associate Dr Karen Humphrey (BMBS ‘91).
The Clinic has a strong association with Flinders, providing high-quality placements to medical students and interns. Flinders’ Professor Jonathan Craig says it’s a highly valued and longstanding partner in the University’s medical training.
“The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has singled out the rural training opportunities delivered by Hawkins to Flinders students as pivotal to this award. As a comprehensive clinic offering general obstetric, paediatric and aged health care, Hawkins Clinic provides a rich experiential learning environment for our students to develop their clinical skills” Professor Craig says.
Dr Leesa Walker, Discipline Head Rural and Remote Health (SA) says Flinders University and Hawkins Clinic have partnered for 17 years hosting more than 70 medical students in this time.
“The collaboration with Hawkins Clinic has been instrumental in developing the rural training pipeline in the South East of South Australia which has made a significant impact to the rural medical workforce in the area” Dr Walker says.
“This is the nation’s highest award for the General Practice sector and we are delighted to be partnered with this exceptional clinic to give our students the very best learning experience” Professor Craig says.
The General Practice of the Year award – a shared win with two chosen this year – is only the second time since 2000 that a South Australian practice has received this national recognition. The state’s outstanding regional practitioners featured heavily this year, taking out four of the RACGP’s seven national awards.
Flinders University also offers congratulations to Dr Mark Miller, who was awarded the highest RACGP accolade, the Rose Hunt Award. In another example of the benefits of Flinders’ extensive regional footprint and quality of medical training, Dr Miller is sharing his expertise with a Flinders’ placement student currently interning at his Goolwa practice.