Two future GPs have joined the Tui Ora clinical teams in Whaitara and Ngāmotu, helping to ensure future generations will be able to access the health care they need.
Alex Dempsey (Taranaki Iwi) and Nick Wilson are both part of the General Practice Training Programme (GPEP), a three-year placement that sees them working with patients in a clinical environment as well as continuing their academic study.
Alex has just started her first year and is excited to be working with her whānau while she gains the experience and qualification to be a fully-fledged GP – although being a doctor wasn’t her first choice of profession.
“I grew up in Auckland and although caring for others was very much in my nature, my family were very business orientated so I did a commerce degree initially,” she says.
“But it very quickly came apparent that the business world wasn’t where I was supposed to be, and so I signed up for a health science degree so I could help people. It wasn’t too much longer before I applied to medical school.”
During the four years at university and two years as a junior doctor at Dunedin Hospital, Alex married her husband Rory and fell pregnant with Aoife – now 4 – who was born just two weeks before her final exams! Together the couple added two-year Tai to the family and moved back to Taranaki to be closer to Alex’s whānau.
“My two older sisters and Mum and Dad came home so we could be closer to one another. We all wanted our kids to grow up knowing their cousins, plus the weather and the beaches… it was a no brainer really,” Alex laughs.
She wanted to be become a GP because it gives her the opportunity to build relationships with the people she cares for, and to provide the continuity of care doctors don’t get the chance to do in hospital.
She was especially excited to be joining Tui Ora because of her interest in Māori health.
“It has been very interesting seeing patients here compared to when I was in Dunedin as they are a completely different demographic,” she says. “The inequities in the health system are very apparent and it’s a constant reminder about why I want to do this and help to improve the lives of whānau whenever I can.”
Nick Wilson is in his final year of the GPEP programme and is based at Whaitara Health Centre. He is also halfway through his Rural Hospital Training, which gives him a wider scope as a doctor as it includes dealing with emergencies that a normal GP may not have to face.
“I just like being ready for anything, I suppose,” says Nick. “I like being in the problem solver role for people, a bit of a jack of all trades at the end of the day.
“I very much wanted to come and practice in Whaitara because the sense of community here is amazing and the job has more of the old school family doctor vibe about it, which I love.
“That sense of community is very apparent at Tui Ora too, it’s been great joining such a dedicated team who always put whānau first.”
Nick is working two days a week at the clinic, spending the rest of the time caring for his one-year- old son Oscar while his wife Zénobie works full-time at Base Hospital, where she is an anaesthetic registrar.
“We are absolutely delighted to welcome these two budding GPs and help them gain the knowledge and experience they need to fully qualify,” says Bernard Leuthart, Pou Whakahaere Takutatanga/Clinical Director. “We are particularly excited to be supporting Alex as it is the first time we have taken on a first-year GPEP Registrar.
“At Tui Ora, we want to be part of the solution, no matter what the problem is, and so helping to train the next generation of doctors to address the lack of GPs we have in Aotearoa is an important kaupapa for us.”