Rural Coach Program for Surgical Trainees

Dr Damian Fry is the Clinical Director of the Rural Coach Program 2021.

Damian joined the Rural Coach Program in 2015 as a General Surgery SET Trainee in receipt of the RCP GSA Registration Grant. He has attended the Provincial Surgeons of Australia (PSA) regularly since then.  Prior to getting onto the RACS SET program, Damian was in the Defence Force (Communications Intelligence) so brings a wealth of knowledge to his role as Clinical Director RCP. Damian has completed many of his rotations in Queensland and has recently been admitted to Fellowship. He is a Consultant Surgeon at Toowoomba Hospital, Queensland.

Damian was also the RACSTA Representative for Queensland and is very happy to have contact with any Trainees considering a rural surgical career. Trainees are encouraged to contact Damian Rural.Coach@surgeons.org  

For the past few years, General Surgeons of Australia has generously given a Rural Surgery Grant to Trainees who have applied to attend the Provincial Surgeons of Australia Conference. These Trainees have found the opportunities for networking invaluable. GSA is again providing a Rural Surgery Grant for any General Surgery Trainee, SIMG or junior doctor to attend the PSA 2020 ASC, 6-8 August 2021 in Bega, NSW.

Registrations and applications for the grants are now open. Trainees must first register for the PSA and then apply for the grant. 

Successful recipients will have their grant applied retrospectively following the Conference. 

The grants

• Each grant is valued at up to $660 including GST
• Each grant is to be used towards attending the PSA 2021 ASC including registration, travel and/or accommodation

Eligibility

If you are one of the following, we encourage you to apply:

• General Surgery Trainees
• General Surgery SIMGs
• Junior doctors who are members of GSA

To apply

You must complete an online PSA 2021 ASC registration including payment before submitting an application. Successful recipients will have their grant applied retrospectively following the Conference. Apply online.

A condition of receiving the grant is that the recipient must write a short article (about 250 words) for publication. The grant is paid to the recipients retrospectively.

The Rural Coach Project does not offer training courses but rather offers support for Trainees interested in a rural surgical career.

Trainees interested in becoming involved with the RACS Rural Coach Program or the Rural Surgery Section should contact:

Rural Coach Program Officer
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
Suite 1, Level 26
201 Kent Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia

Telephone: +61 2 8298 4513
Email: Rural.Coach@surgeons.org