The culture here is good. The people are good. The nurses and admin support the GPs in impressive (to me) ways. The town is big enough (pop ~ 9000) to meet your needs and small enough to embrace you. Far enough away from the concrete, city noise and pollution and close enough to major centres (Toowoomba, ~ 2 hrs, Brisbane ~ 4 hours via good roads). The hospital is both small enough to know what's going on and big enough to be genuinely useful to the community it serves. One of the advantages of being me, apart from the knowledge that comes from being age 60 and PGY37, is that I have spent 20+ years in GP representation and advocacy roles and I have a wealth of experience that is not obvious if you've just met me. I have toured hospitals, sat on committees, taskforces, worked with some truly amazing people and some people I'd never work with again. I have talked, but more importantly, I have listened to clinicians and consumers. To patients and their families. Sometimes I have cried for the gaps in the system and the impact this has had on individuals. I have witnessed bravado without basis. I have seen toxic cultures in workplaces with impressive vision statements. I have seen an organisation slowly change from magnificent to mediocre following a change in leadership. I have toured demoralised workplaces and felt the impact this had on their service provision. So, it was a relief and a joy to spend last week working in Goondiwindi Medical Centre. To push past the superficial knowledge I had of the clinicians and observe the workplace and workforce in full action. Culture, as I'm sure you know, eats strategy for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The culture here is good. The people are good. The nurses and admin support the GPs in impressive (to me) ways. The town is big enough (pop ~ 9000) to meet your needs and small enough to embrace you. Far enough away from the concrete, city noise and pollution and close enough to major centres (Toowoomba, ~ 2 hrs, Brisbane ~ 4 hours via good roads). The hospital is both small enough to know what's going on and big enough to be genuinely useful to the community it serves. Also, you can read Wendy's blog post "Going Bush"

Thank you for facilitating such an incredible placement experience here in Goondiwindi! It has been a true privilege to be mentored and inspired by you and the wonderful team here in Gundy, and I very much hope I’ll be able to meaningfully contribute to this beautiful community sometime in the future.

GMC is well equipped, state of the art, up to date, and is at the forefront of general practice. The GMC team provide patient centered care whilst keeping to the highest standards of General Practice, and have a genuine interest in advancing health services within their rural community. GMC provides a very friendly and warm workplace, and within it, a team that has a wealth of combined experience and knowledge of which is shared at any opportunity through education and mentoring programs. GMC has an excellent reputation as an education centre for medical students, junior doctors and GP Registrars alike.

If the medical team at GMC was a sporting team, you would say it has the ideal mix of youth and experience! Goondiwindi offers an excellent rural medical experience for doctors in any phase of their career. For junior doctors it provides a good variety of work in a very supportive teaching environment. You will never feel ‘on your own’ when working in Gundy. For doctors who have completed their training and are looking for a fulfilling rural career, Gundy offers the chance to practise comprehensive rural general practise. The GMC admin team is very professional and enables a smooth transition for new doctors moving to Goondiwindi. I thoroughly recommend GMC to any doctors interested in rural GP.

I think back very fondly on the years I spent finishing my general practice training at Goondiwindi Medical Centre. Not only was I able to gain the full spectrum of rural general practice experience but I also gained friends through the inclusive and family friendly nature of the practice and it’s staff. The senior GPs have the perfect balance of guidance whilst promoting independence and as supervisors are knowledgeable, experienced and approachable. The practice runs smoothly and efficiently with perfect administrative and nursing support. Goondiwindi is a unique place to work with respect to the continuity of care provided for patients between general practice and hospital level care as the hospital is staffed by the local GPs. The practice is entirely supportive and encouraging of your participation in hospital work. This enabled me to use my emergency and anaesthetic skill set and the experience I gained there has set me up as practicing rural GP-anaesthetist. I have immense gratitude to all the staff at Goondiwindi Medical Centre and highly recommend the practice as a place to work regardless of your level of training. You will learn so much and have a great time doing so.

Goondiwindi Medical Centre gives you a great breadth of experience as a Registrar, in a well supported environment with experienced Rural Generalist supervisors. Your week may include General Practice, Nursing Home visits, Emergency and ward work at the Hospital, as well as outreach to the nearby Boggabilla Clinic. It is a privilege to be a part of the patients journey between the hospital and medical centre, and to live in such a lovely community with a variety of sporting and creative opportunities to be a part of. I would be happy to chat with any prospective future Registrars about my experiance.

GMC covers the full scope of a great general practice, offering everything from paediatrics to complex skin procedures. The practice staff are warm and wonderful and the GPs are a great team of doctors who cover both the clinic and the hospital so will do their best for continuity of care. They love Gundi and it shows. I tribute my time at GMC to building a really solid base for my general practice training. I was exposed to a huge range of acute presentations and chronic conditions and I was able to follow patients throughout their medical journey. I learnt so much from a great team of skilled doctors who encouraged independence, but were really supportive and clearly loved their jobs.