Dr Jenny May, a rural general practitioner from Tamworth, New South Wales, has won the Royal Australian General Practitioners (RACGP) Brian Williams Award 2012.
The Brian Williams Award is awarded by the RACGP National Rural Faculty to a member of the College who has made a significant contribution to the personal and professional welfare of rural doctors. The Brian Williams Award is the highest accolade to be awarded by the RACGP National Rural Faculty.
Presenting the award at the RACGP Academic Session held during GP12 – The Conference for General Practice – on the Gold Coast, Chair of the National Rural Faculty, Dr Kathryn Kirkpatrick, said that Dr May was a very worthy recipient of the Brian Williams Award 2012.
“Dr May’s passion for rural practice is unquestionable, as it is her great passion for the future of general practice and the education of the next generation of general practitioners for rural and remote Australia. She has consistently shown a dedication to general practice through both her professional and personal endeavours,” she said.
Dr Kirkpatrick said that Dr May’s work reflects the essence of the award through her strong activism for change within the rural general practice (GP) landscape, evident in a number of representative roles she has held.
Dr May is Chair of the female doctors group of the Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA) which supports female participation in rural general practice. Under her leadership, the group is also raising the profile of violence against rural professionals, particularly general practitioners in rural and remote Australia. She is immediate past chair of the National Rural Health Alliance (NRHA) where she served as Chair for 3 years and whose aim is to improve the health and wellbeing of people in Australia’s rural and remote areas.
With the aim of informing concerns for the future workforce, Dr May is currently working towards a PhD looking at issues that influence recruitment and retention to regional centres, and is working on behalf of rural clinicians on the National Lead Clinicians Group. She is currently the Acting Director of Newcastle University Department of Rural Health managing the UDRH and Rural Clinical School in Tamworth
Dr May said that she is honored and humbled to receive this year’s award.
“I am extremely pleased to be this year’s recipient of the award, although like all past and future recipients, I am just doing my bit to improve and sustain the rural and remote general practice profession and the health and wellbeing of their respective communities,” said Dr May.
Dr May’s commitment to supporting her peers is evident through her academic appointments and examining for the RACGP clinical examinations. She has provided extensive peer support to all her medical colleagues as well as nursing and allied health staff in her local area.
“She is a role model for students and registrars alike, a compassionate general practitioner and a fervent advocate for rural general practice and communities,” Dr Kirkpatrick said.
The Brian Williams Award commemorates the work of the late Dr Brian Williams, a rural general practitioner, medical educator and Director of the WA Centre for Remote and Rural Medicine. Dr Williams was a staunch advocate for rural general practice and the need for rural GPs to provide support to their peers in order to improve rural general practice.
For more information about the GP12 conference taking place from 25-27 October on the Gold Coast, Queensland and to download the program, please visit www.gp12.com.au.