Shaping the future rural healthcare landscape: perspectives of young healthcare professionals

Prof Ian Couper

qualifications: MFamMed, FCFP(SA)

contribution: Study conception and design, Acquisition of data, Acquisition of data, Analysis and interpretation of data, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision

position: Professor and Director, Ukwanda Centre for Rural Health

South Africa

Professor Ian Couper is Director of the Ukwanda Centre for Rural Health and Professor of Rural Health at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. A trained family physician, he spent nine years practising in a remote rural hospital in northern KwaZuluNatal province, and then 16 years working in primary care and health service development in rural North West province. He held the first chair of rural health at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). He has chaired both the Rural Doctors Association of Southern Africa (RuDASA) and the Wonca Working Party on Rural Practice (WONCA Rural).

Ms Manoko Lediga

qualifications: MPhil

contribution: Acquisition of data, Analysis and interpretation of data, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision

position: Research Assistant and Public Health Student

Ms Ndivhuho Takalani

qualifications: Msc Medical Sciences

contribution: Study conception and design, Acquisition of data, Critical revision

position: PhD Candidate

PhD Candidate in Medical biosciences (Male reproduction)

Dr Mayara Floss

qualifications: MD MFamMed

contribution: Analysis and interpretation of data, Critical revision

position: PhD Candidate

Mayara Floss is Family Doctor in Brazil.

Ms Alexandra Yeoh

contribution: Acquisition of data, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision

position: Medical Student

Ms Alexandra Ferrara

qualifications: MPH

contribution: Acquisition of data, Critical revision

position: Medical Student

Dr Amber Wheatley

qualifications: MRCGP

contribution: Acquisition of data, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision

position: Resident Family Physician

Dr Wheatley is a final year family medicine resident currently training in North Wales, UK. She is a founding member of Rural Seeds and has used her passion for caring for rural communities to collaborate internationally on research.

Ms Lara Feasby

contribution: Acquisition of data, Critical revision

position: Resident Family Physician

Dr Marcela De Oliveira Santana

qualifications: MD

contribution: Acquisition of data, Critical revision

position: Generalist Physician

Dr Mercy Wanjala

qualifications: MFamMed, MBA-HCM

contribution: Acquisition of data, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision

position: Family Physician

Mr Mustapha Tukur (deceased)

contribution: Acquisition of data, Critical revision

position: Medical Student

Dr Sneha Kotian

qualifications: MD, MSc

contribution: Acquisition of data, Critical revision

position: PhD Researcher

Dr Veronika Rasic

qualifications: MD, RCGP

contribution: Acquisition of data, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision

position: General Practitioner

Dr. Veronika Rasic graduated from the University of Rijeka, Croatia in 2011. During her time in Croatia she worked in pre-hospital emergency medicine and rural primary care. In 2016 she moved to the UK where she completed her GP training in 2019. Currently Dr Rasic is working as a locum GP and digital GP. She is a passionate advocate for rural health equity with a focus on rural health policy and encouraging students and young healthcare professionals to explore opportunities in rural healthcare. Dr Rasic is one of the Founding Rural Seeds Ambassadors and has been an active member of EURIPA and WONCA Working Party on Rural Practice since 2015.

Ms Vuthlarhi Shirindza

qualifications: BMedSci(Hons)

contribution: Acquisition of data, Critical revision

position: Medical Student

I am Vuthlarhi Shirindza. I am a final year medical student at the University of Cape Town. I am a Talloires Network Next Generation Leader, the Student Representative of the Rural Doctors Association of South Africa, and a Klaus-Jürgen Bath Leadership Scholar. I have also served on the University of Cape Town's Rural Support Network student society. My interests lie in global surgery, rural healthcare and women's health.

Prof Alan Chater

qualifications: FACRRM, FRACGP

contribution: Study conception and design, Critical revision

position: Chair

Dr Chater has been a rural practitioner in rural Australia for 42 years. He was the founding convenor of the Rural Doctors Associations of Queensland and Australia as well as the National Rural Health Alliance. He has been President of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine. He is Chair of the WONCA Working Party on Rural Practice and Head of Discipline Rural and Remote Medicine, University of Queensland. He has a keen interest in Rural Health Policy as it effects rural communities as well as the clinical aspects of rural practice.

Ms Theadora Koller

qualifications: MA

contribution: Study conception and design, Analysis and interpretation of data, Critical revision

position: Senior Technical Lead/Unit Head