Singleton farmer turns doctor to boost regional healthcare
25-year-old Jared Lawrence is passionate about rural healthcare. And after seven years’ harvesting while studying medicine, is set to become a doctor for Dubbo.
Seven years of harvest, five years’ studying medicine, and the next two years’ caring for Dubbo locals.
Jared Lawrence, 25, is in the midst of celebrating his five-year medicine degree at the University of New England, and will leave for Dubbo Hospital as a practising doctor for the next two years.
“At about Year 10 I clued on to doing medicine, I was a keen rugby player growing up and had a few knee injuries which always required me to go to Newcastle,” he said.
“I wasn’t impressed with the inadequacies of the healthcare in rural areas, it inspired me to go down the medicine route with the goal to return to a country area and be a lifelong GP.”
Jared was raised in a beef cattle farm at Singleton in the Hunter Valley.
He spent the past few weeks on wheat harvest near Horsham, but has travelled through Moree and Wagga, NSW, and from Manangatang to Ballarat for seven harvest seasons during his studies.
“I’ve done it each summer and I go somewhere different each time,” Jared said.
“It’s a good debrief after a big year of study, to sit in the header for 12-13 hours a day, it lets you process everything.”
He did remote placements during his studies, including with the Flying Doctors at Charleville and Cunnamulla QLD.
“It’s challenging healthcare out there but it draws me to those areas, finding the stories that no one else gets to hear and you’re lucky enough to hear their stories,” he said.
During his placement, he started a run club and regular coffee meets in the Cunnamulla community.
Jared said it was important for rural families to maintain active lifestyles, and have access to adequate healthcare. He encouraged people to maintain 30 minutes of daily exercise.
“Prioritising your health for the long run is really important,” he said.
“Distance and isolation is a big thing that affects our patients. That’s why I do harvest, I can get a really good understanding of what these farmers do.”
Jared first studied a Bachelor of Podiatry before his medicine degree in 2020, and hoped to become a regional GP, with a special interest in obstetrics while maintaining a rural lifestyle. He received his results one week ago.
“I don’t think I’ve fully processed it yet. When I have a break over Christmas and have a beer, it’ll sink in,” he said.