qualifications: FRCGP
contribution: Study conception and design, Drafting of manuscript, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision
position: Remote Health and Medicine
Australia
medical education, rural health care, workforce
qualifications: PhD
contribution: Study conception and design, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision
position: Adjunct Professor
qualifications: PhD
contribution: Study conception and design, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision
position: Research Fellow
qualifications: PhD
contribution: Study conception and design, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision
position: Senior Lecturer
Vanessa is an experienced Infection Prevention and Control (IP&C) professional with a specific interest in rural and remote areas. Vanessa's PhD thesis studied improving infection prevention and control in a rural hospital in the Solomon Islands using a Participatory Action Research approach. Vanessa has worked as an IP&C clinical nurse in both large metropolitan hospitals and rural and remote areas of Australia. Vanessa’s other professional interests include critical care nursing, public health, and disaster preparedness and recovery and has travelled to Vietnam to teach disaster preparedness to communities living on the Mekong Delta (AusAID funded), and to the Solomon Islands to assess IP&C practices in a rural hospital (WHO funded). Vanessa is an active member of the Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control (ACIPC) LMI Special Interest Group and Education & Professional Development Committee, and a founding member of the Collaborative for Advancement of Infection Prevention and Control - a collaborative between Griffith University, University of the Sunshine Coast and JCU.
qualifications: DRANZCOGadv
contribution: Study conception and design, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision
position: Director of Medical Services Eastern Sector
Australia
Role and profile Associate Professor Ruth Stewart MBBS (Uni Melb 1985), FACRRM, DRANZCOG Dr Ruth Stewart is the Director of Rural Clinical Training and Support, Associate Professor of Rural Medicine at James Cook University School of Medicine, Australia. She works clinically at Mareeba Hospital in far north Queensland as a Senior Medical Officer, is a Director of Rural Generalist Training with the Queensland Rural Generalist Program and is a member of the Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service board. Ruth worked for twenty-two years as a procedural GP in South West Victoria, Australia. And between 2008 and 2012 she worked with Deakin University where she developed and implemented the Integrated Model of Medical Education in Rural Settings (Deakin IMMERSe) for Deakin University. In December 2013 Ruth was awarded a PhD by Flinders University Faculty of Health Sciences for her thesis "Lessons from the development of a maternity managed clinical network in a low Volume rural context" Teaching Responsibilities Associate Professor Stewart is the academic lead for the Rural Internship rotation at James Cook University College of Medicine and oversees all rural placements at JCU. She is also course director for the Masters of Rural and Remote Medicine post-graduate course at JCU Research Interests Ruth's research interests are rural maternity care and policy, rural health service and rural medical education.
qualifications: PhD
contribution: Study conception and design, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision
position: Senior Lecturer
qualifications: BPhT (Hons)
contribution: Study conception and design, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision
position: Project Officer
I am a physiotherapist with a passion for rural generalism and experience working across several sectors including acute hospital, community health, outpatients and aged care. I currently work as a Project Officer for SARRAH working on the implementation of the Federally funded Allied Health Rural Generalist Pathway and Allied Health Assistant Workforce projects.
qualifications: MScMed
contribution: Study conception and design, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision
position: A/CEO
As a health leader who has built a career around about improving the lives of others, I thrive on collaborations that advance the well-being and resilience of individuals and communities. Drawing on more than thirty years’ experience in diverse roles as a physiotherapist, executive manager and company director, I have connected with people across public and private domains and across organisations to help create award-winning programs that have improved access to high quality health care.
contribution: Study conception and design, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision
position: Deputy Chair RACGP Rural Council
qualifications: FACRRM
contribution: Study conception and design, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision
position: Head of Clinical School
Australia
Tarun Sen Gupta is Professor of Health Professional Education and Head of the Townsville Clinical School at the James Cook University College of Medicine and Dentistry, North Queensland, Australia. He was in rural practice in Richmond, north-west Queensland from 1987-1993, and has worked in rural medical education since 1993. He is a Rural Generalist Training Adviser for Queensland's Rural Generalist Pathway, a board member of the Rural Doctors Association of Queensland and the Rural Doctors Foundation, and Chair of the ACRRM Assessment Committee.
qualifications: FACRRM
contribution: Study conception and design, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision
contribution: Study conception and design, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision
position: Executive Director
qualifications: MPH
contribution: Study conception and design, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision
position: Public Health Clinical Nurse Consultant
contribution: Study conception and design, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision
position: Manager Rural Pathway and Rural Generalist Training
qualifications: FACRRM
contribution: Study conception and design, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision
position: Director of Medical Services
contribution: Study conception and design, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision
position: LARU Advanced Care Paramedic
qualifications: BN, BPO
contribution: Study conception and design, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision
position: Prosthetist/Orthotist
Australia
-prosthetics and orthotic services provided to rural and remote areas internationally
contribution: Study conception and design, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision
position: Bachelor of Nursing Student
qualifications: GradCertClinEd
contribution: Study conception and design, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision
position: Nurse Educator
qualifications: PGCert Rem Manag
contribution: Study conception and design, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision
position: Executive Manager Strategy & Partnerships
Jo Symons is a Physiotherapist with a breadth of rural and remote PHC experience, having worked clinically, in managerial roles and as a primary health service planning and development consultant. Jo now works in the leadership team at Health Workforce Queensland, a rural workforce agency, where she has the opportunity to collaborate to develop sustainable local health workforce solutions for the rural and remote PHC workforce and communities.
qualifications: GradCertHlthSc
contribution: Study conception and design, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision
position: Executive Director Allied Health
I have experience working in clinical, operational and leadership roles across rural and remote health services throughout Queensland. I hold a Bachelor of Pharmacy and a postgraduate qualification in healthcare management.
qualifications: MACN
contribution: Study conception and design, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision
position: Senior Lecturer, Nursing
NRHA 36th Rural Health Policy Institute, 11–13 February 2025, Washington, DC, USA
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RWAV Conference 2025: Dreaming Big and Driving Change in Rural Healthcare, 19–21 February 2025, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia
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2025 European Forum on Prevention and Primary Care, 5 & 6 March 2025, Zagreb, Croatia
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WONCA South Asia Region Conference 2025, 4–6 April 2025, Bengaluru, India
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9th European Young Family Doctors' Movement (EYFDM Forum), 25–27 April 2025, Grande Région
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WONCA Asia Pacific Region Conference 2025: Primary Care Transformation; Implementing High-value, High-quality Care!, 24–27 April 2025, Busan Korea
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National Rural Health Conference 2025, 2–3 May 2025, Ōtautahi Christchurch, New Zealand
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NRHA 30th Health Equity Conference, 19–20 May 2025, Atlanta, GA, USA
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NRHA 48th Annual Rural Health Conference, 20–23 May 2025, Atlanta, GA, USA
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2025 International Rural Nursing Conference, 27–30 May 2025, Arlington, TX, USA
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BC Rural Health Conference 2025, 6–8 June 2025, Prince George, BC, Canada
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4th International Indigenous Health & Wellbeing Conference 2025, 16–19 June 2025, Adelaide Convention Centre, Kaurna Country, Australia
web link
14th EURIPA Rural Health Forum. Rural Reformation: Meeting Wellbeing and Healthcare Needs in Rural Communities, 26–28 June 2025, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
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Rethinking Remote 2025: Scotland's Rural Health Conference
web link
WONCA World Conference 2025: New Vision for Primary Health Care and Sustainable Development, 17–21 September 2025, Lisbon, Portugal
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NRHA 23rd Rural Health Clinic Conference, 23–24 September 2025, Kansas, MO, USA
web link
Rural Mental Health Conference 2025 (RMHC25), 5–7 November 2025, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
web link
4th EURACT Medical Education Conference, 23–25 April 2026, Iasi, Romania
web link
9th WONCA Africa Region Conference 2026, 10 & 11 September 2026, Gaborone, Botswana
web link
18th National Rural Health Conference, 14–17 September 2026, Adelaide, SA, Australia