The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) is delighted to announce that Dr Jane Cooper, a GP from Devonport, Tasmania has been awarded the 2016 RACGP GP of the Year.
The award is presented to a general practitioner who has demonstrated and shown outstanding commitment to the profession, excellence in primary healthcare provision and significant involvement in training and continued professional development.
RACGP president Dr Frank R Jones presented the award to Dr Cooper on the eve of the national general practice conference, GP16 held in Perth this year.
“Dr Cooper is a very worthy recipient of the award. She has a strong commitment to helping young people and takes a holistic approach to medicine that accounts for social and community factors.
“Her ‘youth friendly’ approach is particularly impressive and Dr Cooper is deeply passionate about engaging GPs to enhance their empathy and understanding of the issues and problems they face,” Dr Jones said.
Dr Cooper has lived and worked in the Devonport area most of her life and has developed a deep understanding of her community and its people.
After working at many local practices in the Devonport area, Dr Cooper felt there were limited opportunities for trying new ideas, and found the local established practices were becoming very large and had the potential to be a little impersonal.
In 2012, after seeing more and more adolescent referrals through local youth workers, Dr Cooper set up a clinic at the local school, Don College. The clinic is a valuable service to the local community and Dr Cooper has worked hard to develop relationships with not only the students, but the teachers, chaplain and on campus police officer, as well as many other high schools in the area. Dr Cooper works with teachers to offer classes educating local young people about their health and how to make good choices.
GP16 – the RACGP’s annual conference for general practice runs from September 29 to October 1 2016 at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. Visit the GP16 website for more information.