Meet Your Executive Team
General Practice Student Ambassador:
Kerry Summerscales <gpsn.flinders@gpra.org.au>
Well where does one start? I’m a second Year Medical Student in the Flinders Post Grad course. Although I grew up in Adelaide, I left to traipse around the countryside with the Australian Regular Army and as such have lived in all the eastern sea-board states at some stage in my career. Within the Army I was initially a Medical Assistant and then trade transferred to become a Pathology Technician, and eventually obtained my degree part time and took a commission to become a Scientific Officer – and am now attempting to become a Doctor! Evidently, I’ve never been one for taking the short option.
I see General Practice as not only the cornerstone of health care, but one of the most diverse and potentially exciting career options within the field of medicine. The options both professionally and personally are vast and varied and I truly have a passion for brilliant primary health care, both within our Defence Forces and the general population! It is one thing we should ALL be able to count upon!
GPSN is an opportunity for us all to learn what the GP can offer – and realise not only is it NOT the default career, it is a wonderous, exciting and challenging career option. If we ever intend to increase the profile of General Practice, then it is here at the basic medical student level that we must start! I am looking forward to some great skills evenings, educational evening and of course – the social events we can organise both within Flinders and with Adelaide university.
Executive Officer:
Olivia Bennett
I am currently a second year med student. I’ve dreamt of being a doctor since I was about 13. In these daydreams, I was always a GP. I think this was due to my main, if not sole, interaction with the medical profession being through my family doctor. I was lucky to have fabulous GPs whilst growing up. The kind of GPs who you know truly care about your well-being, and have an interest in how all aspects of your life impact upon your health.
When I graduated from school in Brisbane, UQ had just changed from the undergraduate to graduate program and so I had to complete a Bachelor degree prior to commencing medicine. It was initially difficult for me to decide what to study for undergrad, so I ended up following both my passions and completed an Honours in Fine Art (QUT) and a Bachelor of Biomedical Science (UQ).
The following years were filled with a number of varied (and sometimes random) jobs and a fair bit of overseas travelling. Eventually, I decided to take the plunge and go back to uni for my third degree! Although I have had a few detours to get to this point, I wouldn’t trade the experiences I’ve had along the way for anything. I feel really lucky to be studying the graduate program at Flinders, and medicine is still my dream career…
And, General Practice remains firmly at the top of that list. I am attracted to the opportunity to learn a lot about numerous medical areas, not simply everything about one area, and to apply this knowledge in an integrated and wholistic way. I value the opportunity to form long-term relationships with patients and have a continuity of care that will allow me to truly impact upon people’s health. Finally, I like the flexibility of tailoring General Practice to reflect my own medical interests through upskilling / post-graduate diplomas, as well as my interests outside of medicine.
Secretaries: Prue Standen and Cassie Pollard
Prue Standen
I am a second year medical student at Flinders University, having completed my Undergraduate and Honours degrees at the University of Adelaide. I believe that GPSN will provide the opportunity for students to garner an early appreciation of the importance of preventative primary healthcare as well as the wide career opportunities that are available within the specialty of General Practice.
Cassie Pollard
I am a second year medical student in the Flinders grad med course. I considered doing medicine after year 12 but wasn’t really that fired up about it and never got round to sitting the UMAT so I ended up studying a Bachelor of Medical Science at Flinders, which was great because it gave me an opportunity to talk to med students and figure out “huh maybe I should have sat that test after all…” But there was no need to despair; I’m here now, doing what I want to do. And something else that I want to do (segway!) is get involved in general practice. I’m sick to death of people (especially med students) GP bashing! Most of the time it’s because they don’t actually know what general practice actually is or can be. Without general practice health services would be completely adrift so we need to change people’s perceptions about it and get them involved and show them that general practice is more than “just a GP”.
Events
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