Rural and Remote Practice

Rural practice is forcibly shaped by the shared characteristics of rurality and remoteness, demographic trends and health profile. As you would expect, the everyday experience of a pharmacist working in a capital city is very different than for one working in a very remote township. Considerable effort has been invested in pinpointing these differences in order to:

a)  Address the maldistribution of practitioners toward urban areas, and
b)  Ensure the effective delivery of healthcare to rural and remote populations.

The sections following will outline some of the known challenges and benefits of rural or remote practice in terms of professional and personal aspects. It is worthwhile remembering that these can have varying impacts depending upon individual characteristics such as:

• Gender
• Age
• Marital status
• Occupation of spouse/partner
• Background and spouse/partner’s background (rural or urban, Australian or overseas born)
• Number of dependent children
• Extent of professional experience