Patients at Cowra Medical Associates will notice some new faces at the clinic with seven doctors starting their GP training in Cowra.
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Amongst the trainee doctors are Dr Amy Derrick and Dr Anna Habeck-Fardy.
Dr Derrick is familiar with the region having grown up just outside Temora on the family farm.
"My nan who was a long-time nurse in Temora, instilled in me a love of medicine and she was very much admired in the community, it's because of her that I decided to pursue medicine as a career," Dr Derrick said.
"Cowra Medical Associates has a number of fantastic supervisors and a great reputation, so it was a nobrainer to train here."
Originally from the coast, Dr Habeck-Fardy is happy to be returning to Cowra after spending a year as a medical student here.
"I loved the variety of work that I saw the doctors here do and was in awe of their breadth of knowledge and skills, and the application of both to their everyday work life, Dr Habeck-Fardy said.
"I had a great year and wanted to continue my journey to becoming a safe, respected and efficient clinician here because I have ready access to excellent mentors, varied medicine, and a welcoming community."
Cowra GP and accredited GP supervisor, Dr Ankush Goyal is pleased that the number of doctors training in Cowra has increased to seven this term due to a change in the allocation process used by regional GP training organisation GP Synergy.
"Being able to train additional doctors in Cowra is a win for Cowra Medical Associates, the hospital and more importantly the local community," Dr Goyal said.
CEO of GP Synergy, Georgina van de Water, said improvements have been made to the distribution of some GP registrars training in rural and remote towns, such as Cowra.
"In response to rural supervisor and stakeholder feedback, the number of trainee GPs that can train in rural and remote practices has increased to better reflect the time that they devote working in both general practice and local hospital settings," Mrs van de Water said.
"GP registrars contribute significantly to healthcare provision in rural areas, and we consistently hear that registrars find rural training a rich and rewarding learning environment.
"Receiving a first-class training experience is critical, as is ensuring doctors and their families, are well supported and nurtured by their local community.
"Collectively, and individually, we all have a role to play to encourage these doctors to stay working rurally after completing training."
Drs Derrick and Habeck-Fardy are two of 122 GP registrars training in the Western NSW region and seven in Cowra.
