Have you been doing obstetrics for years?
Australia-wide rural hospitals are being downsized or closed. Administrations are hostile and look at dollars rather than people. Regional specialists may undermine GP Obstetricians and refuse to support their practice. Have you found you cannot do LSCS any more because the operating theatre has been closed? Or perhaps you can’t perform inductions, augmentations or even electronically monitor women in labour because you lack surgical backup?
In Cooma we still have a busy OT with lots of regular lists. The hospital encourages and supports us to practice safe, quality and local obstetrics. Our regional specialists support us and encourage our women to deliver locally whilst providing timely backup for those that require tertiary care. Our midwives work with us as part of a well-functioning team.
If you have been doing obstetrics and are now faced with the choice of either giving up or moving elsewhere give us a call. If you want to move somewhere with a good work life balance and a functioning rural hospital then Cooma may be for you.
At present we have 3 Drs who do GP obstetrics. They cover about 180-200 deliveries a year. One of our doctors is retiring in July 2008. We have visiting specialists who have committed to provide weekend cover to enable us to be on call for obstetrics 1 weekend a month on average and 1-2 days during the week.
Our public patients are looked after by the doctor on call. This means that there is a reasonable workload as soon as you start. It also means that when you are not on call, you can relax and enjoy life in the region.