Training as a regional doctor pushed me to my limit but I won't leave

There's lots in medicine that has scared me - from the obviously distressing clinical scenarios, to navigating workplace cultures, to the innumerable oral presentations I've given. The scariest things, however, were finding my limits and where I belong.

I'd known stress before starting medicine, but perhaps I didn't know my limits. My limits were found, pushed, reshaped and then pushed again. I had a strange preconception that medicine would lift me above the everyday battles we all face.

After all, wouldn't I become so acquainted with the depths of human suffering that everything else would pale in comparison?

That misconception fell apart, though, as I began to juggle my personal life while trying my best as a learner and clinician.

Soon enough, I also found myself on the other side of the equation as a patient ... at almost every hospital I'd previously worked or been a student at.

I would sheepishly present at the local ED, recognising most of the staff's faces - an experience that allowed me to see rural medicine from the perspective of a patient.

I became acquainted with the uncomfortable plastic chairs while waiting unbearably long hours to be reviewed. After the long wait, I was faced with the lack of specialist staff to review me, with the closest being many hours' drive away in Melbourne.

I saw the weary faces of healthcare professionals who found meaning in their work, but felt let down by the systems they worked in.

I also saw the joy in staffs' eyes when I'd answer that I was interested in rural medicine. When I moved to Gippsland to start my medical degree, I thought studying rurally would hinder my professional development due to the limited opportunities in specialities.

What I didn't factor in was how much the healthcare community in Gippsland would embrace me.

The nurses, doctors, paramedics and allied health workers that operate in Gippsland see us students, I believe, as vehicles for change.

Instead of hampering my professional development, working and studying rurally has afforded me so many professional platforms, opportunities and challenges in Gippsland. Many more than if I had stayed in Melbourne. Gippsland hadn't been on my vision board while starting out, nor could I foresee my tenure here as an important rerouting in my life's path.

I strive to be a rural generalist - a specialty I didn't know about prior - and wish to work here in the region again someday.

For that, I say a sincere thank you to all of the rural health clinicians, the administrative staff, researchers and the organisers of events like these, who have helped me on my journey.

To all of you, know that your efforts result in students like me having the hunger to make the changes you wish to see in rural healthcare.

It is a privilege to be reflecting on the things that have scared now that I am in my last semester of medical school.

Becoming a doctor has been a profound process of rebirthing. After a nine-year journey to doctorhood, I am about to take another jump into the unknown, do another scary thing. At least this time, I know that I'm brave enough.