All Roads Lead to Moranbah
These were the fateful words on the fridge magnet I received as my parting gift after my rural rotation in Moranbah as a final year medical student. The people I had met along the way felt more like old friends then new acquaintances by the time I’d finished, such is the way in so many rural towns around Australia. And here I sit, five years later, a local GP, with my own room, and my own patients. The friends that I made back then, are still here, and still feel like old friends. Some of the most memorable experiences for me here in Moranbah have been the race days. Country races are like no other race day. The dust, the heat, the red earth, the mutton dressed up as lamb, the lambs dressed down as mutton. With temperature soaring above 40C one year, it was even harder than usual to remain elegant and dignified at the races, but when the storm finally broke that night, and fully grown men were swimming in the gutters, it was easy to just lose yourself in the moment and become a kid again – running around in the cooling drenching rains.
If I’ve learned one thing from working in rural areas, it’s that you really come to depend on your colleagues. In good times and in bad, everyone pulls together, because we know we’re all in it together – come what may. The support they provide you is a lifeline in times of trouble. Working in Moranbah has been the most rewarding experience of my life, and I would highly recommend that you all find your own Moranbah or somewhere like it.
