The rural program helping aspiring doctors fulfil their dreams

Tiarny Thompson (née Bourke) was 7 years old when she watched as her mother Debbie Bourke was diagnosed with end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and given 3 years to live.

The day marked the start of Tiarny’s journey into medicine and, over the coming years, every encounter with the health care system – good and bad – reinforced her decision to be a doctor.

“It’s had a lasting psychological impact,” Tiarny said.

“I remember being 9 and standing by Mum’s bedside in the night to make sure she was still breathing.

“I remember Mum explaining to specialists why I was so excited to turn 10, and for her to still be alive.

“I now want to be the person patients can come to when life feels too hard and for them to walk out of a doctor’s appointment and remember the reasons to keep fighting.”

Debbie went on to outlive her prognosis, surviving another 10 years with COPD – a lung condition characterised by chronic respiratory symptoms that can progress over time.

She passed away in 2020, while on holiday. 

Tiarny was 18.

“She was the strongest woman I have ever met; she faced everything head-on and never let her situation get in the way of anything, and I carry that strength with me every day.”

A calling to medicine 

Tiarny went on to complete a nursing degree following high school.

She specialised as a theatre nurse before beginning a Doctor of Medicine degree at The University of Queensland through the Central Queensland - Wide Bay Regional Medical Pathway. 

“Medicine has always been my calling,” Tiarny said.

“Every time something has happened, be it a kid falling over and scraping their knee or a family member needing care, something has always drawn me back to this moment of knowing I’m doing what I’m meant to be doing.”

Now based at the Rockhampton Regional Clinical Unit, the 24-year-old is one of 136 students to have taken part in this year’s Rural Immersion – a hands-on 4-day program delivered by UQ’s Medical School.

The program exposes students to country life, the rural careers and communities on offer and is part of the school’s vision to deliver world-class medical education and research to the bush.

Students were sent to 12 towns across rural Queensland, with Charleville and Monto joining the program for the first time.

Tiarny travelled to Theodore, about 540 kilometres north-west of Brisbane on the Dawson River and known for its palm-lined streets and timber houses.

Putting compassion at the forefront

Tiarny grew up in Finch Hatton, in the Mackay Region, and recalls how a compassionate rural doctor made a positive impact during her family’s darkest days.

She said it was her family doctor who inspired her mother to keep fighting, and to make the gruelling 8-hour drive from Finch Hatton to Cairns for clinical trials.

“I credit our doctor, and the clinical trials, for the extra 8 years we had with her, which at that stage was a miracle,” Tiarny said.

“Mum would go to see our doctor, sick and tired because life was hard – especially with 2 young kids running around.

“She’d spend 15 minutes with her GP and come out refreshed with a reason to keep fighting.”

That same rural GP has been Tiarny’s biggest cheerleader throughout her medicine studies.

“He’s taken care of our family for nearly 20 years – from childhood, through to the teenage years and even emergencies – and I want to make that same change in other people’s lives through rural medicine,” she said.

“When Mum passed away, we had someone we could count on who had been there since the start and understood the heartbreak we were going through.”

A place to preserve dreams

UQ’s Medical School operates across Central Queensland, Wide Bay and Darling Downs and South West Region.

While 136 students travelled across Queensland to take part in the Rural Immersion, a further 328 first-year medical students experienced the program online.

Having spent most of her life in Finch Hatton, a town with a population of about 500, Tiarny understands how remarkable it is to live and work in rural Australia.

“Everyone knows your name and rallies around each other in the hard times, those kinds of communities are hard to beat.”

Tiarny is keeping an open mind to where she may end up, with a goal of dual training in anaesthetics or emergency medicine as well as a Rural GP.

Professor Bruce Chater, head of the Medical School’s Mayne Academy of Rural and Remote Medicine, said the Rural Immersion is 1 piece of the puzzle that includes early, repeated and prolonged exposure, allowing local communities to attract and inspire talent.

“Young medical students have dreams and seeing what is possible in the country is important – rural is where you can preserve your dreams,” Professor Chater said.

Serving communities that need it most

Lachlan Williams is one of 10 first-year students to travel to Charleville for the first time.

The 21-year-old never imagined himself as a doctor growing up.

He initially enrolled in an education degree, but a chance to study human biology sparked an unexpected interest in pursuing a medical career.

“I thought a career as a physical education teacher would be a way to give back to my community,” Lachlan said.

“What I didn’t expect was how profoundly the biological component of my studies and learning about the remarkable adaptability of the human body, would affect me.”

Lachlan, from Tamborine, is completing his Doctor of Medicine as part of the Darling Downs South-West Medical Pathway and is motivated to serve communities that need it most. 

The trip to Charleville has helped cement his ambition to become a rural generalist.

“Rural medicine resonates with me because it aligns with my values of equity, connection, and meaningful contribution,” Lachlan said.

“I hope to not only provide high-quality care, but advocate for improved access, community wellbeing and inspire others to believe in their potential.”

Collaboration and acknowledgements