Dr Yota Yoshimitsu
I work as a GP in Geelong and Spotswood. I’m also medical educator with the RACGP VIC South West medical education team, and Co-Chair of the Victorian New Fellows Committee along with my colleague Dr Seung-Hoon Baek, and our fellow committee members.
I was an optometrist for about 15 years before I did medicine. I started off going through physician training, but then I “saw the light” and decided that general practice was a more suitable pathway for me in terms of my interests and personality. My training took me to Hamilton and Heywood in South West Victoria. This was a very fulfilling experience and I was exposed to some really great, fabulous GPs and medical educators. Once I fellowed, I went back to Geelong to work and that’s where I’ve done the bulk of my work since.
How did you get involved in the College?
I become a student member of RACGP when I was in medical school. I actually still have my physical RACGP membership card (they don’t give those out anymore!). My interest in getting involved in the College came from people like Dr Bernard Shiu. He’s a very passionate Geelong GP and a very strong advocate for general practice, and he’s had many roles with the College over the years. I knew his work with the College was very interesting, and so I thought I’d get involved.
What’s most rewarding about your involvement with the New Fellows Committee?
I think a lot of new Fellows feel like once they get their fellowship, they’re kind of left to fend for themselves. You go from a very supported environment with supervisors and medical educators and colleagues, and then once you fellow, many of those supports seem to drop off suddenly. I could see that a lot of new fellows felt a bit lost and even disillusioned with the profession and that’s a real pity because we should love what we do as GPs! I want to be able to provide support to new fellows and build a community that could help them navigate the first five years of fellowship and thrive, through personal connections, education events and social catch ups. We build personal relationships in the areas we practice, so it’s like a grassroots way of helping and supporting new fellows.
What would you say to someone who is interested in getting involved in a committee?
Don’t think that you need to have some sort of special experience or knowledge. You just need to want to help your fellow GPs and have ideas on how things could be done better, and a willingness to spend a bit of time to help each other out. So just do it – we’d love to have you onboard!
Anyone interested in getting involved in the New Fellows Committee, or other committees can contact the faculty: vic.faculty@racgp.org.au