The Australian healthcare sector focuses on giving priority to the mental health of its citizens. It is why the government has put together programs that work on producing the best psychiatrists in the country. This applies to not only the cities but also rural and remote areas in Australia. The Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) is an organization that is dedicated towards psychiatrists working in Australia and New Zealand. It focuses on improving mental health services in the country by allowing access to quality mental healthcare for people living in all regions and suburbs in Australia.

About rural psychiatry

Rural psychiatry demands an expanse of knowledge and expert skills to meet the increasing demands of those living in remote and rural regions in the country. Rural psychiatrists work across a range of clinical, leadership, administrative, and educational settings to make this a possibility. 

The rural environment is a distinct context for the practice of psychiatry. It offers unique challenges and excellent opportunities for psychiatrists at every level. The often work as generalists, treating a range of conditions as opposed to the city. Rural areas only have a few private specialists, which means that psychiatrists in rural hospitals and clinics are more likely to see a higher number of patients with concerns relating to depression and anxiety.

In a small town environment patients take a different approach to meeting psychiatrists. Therefore, patients may contact psychiatrists outside of working hours to discuss issues regarding their mental health situation. Therefore, working in a rural setting may open up issues related to confidentiality and personal-professional boundaries. 

Why work in a rural area?

There are many benefits to working in a rural setting for psychiatrists and trainees. It can be a rewarding experience for these healthcare professionals. Here are the reasons why psychiatrists should work in rural areas:

The opportunity to travel and explore the beautiful surroundings or rural and remote regions and live close to nature.

Experience a wide variety of patient needs, thereby improving skills on various other medical specialties.

Work with medical professionals in a wider range of disciplines due to the way mental health services are delivered in rural and remote regions.

Provide a worthwhile service to the community that lack high-quality services in many fields.

Be a part of a supportive and friendly community of professionals with high levels of team spirit.

Gain new experience relating to providing outreach services, using telepsychiatry, and working with indigenous communities.

How are mental health services delivered in rural areas?

In most rural parts of Australia, mental healthcare services are delivered by primary care workers, which means GPs and nurses. These rural towns may not be able to accommodate specialists to provide such services due to the challenges that come by in recruitment procedures. Therefore, specialist services are mostly based in large towns in remote areas.

Patients will most likely reach for help from the first step, which means a GP or nurse. Apart from them, religious leaders and teachers also provide counselling services in small towns. People in remote areas often reach out to these people within their communities, at first to talk about their problems. 

In such settings, psychiatrists will deal with these healthcare professionals and community leaders to help people overcome their mental health issues.

Mental healthcare workers in rural areas

There are several types of medical professionals that help provide mental healthcare services in rural and remote regions in Australia.

Psychiatrists and other medical specialists

Fewer psychiatrists and mental healthcare specialists are available in rural areas when compared to the city. Only one-third of the rural workforce live in the rural regions when it comes to psychiatrists. The others travel from cities or use telepsychiatry to provide their services. 

Nurse practitioners

Nurses and nurse practitioners are skilled to provide healthcare services in a broader range within Australia. Therefore, it is highly possible for people in remote area to be treated by registered nurses or more specialist mental healthcare nurses, when it comes to issues related to their mental health. Rural psychiatrists liaise with these nurses and provide adequate clinical training to ensure that these nurses are skilled enough to initiate diagnostic investigations and prescribe suitable medications for patients.

General Practitioners (GPs)

The duties of GPs working in rural areas generally go beyond their defined scope of work. They may undertake additional training related to providing mental healthcare services to patients in rural and remote regions. In fact, GPs are mostly the first point of contact for patients in terms of discussing mental healthcare issues.

Allied health professionals

A broad range of allied health professionals work in remote and rural regions in Australia. They are most probably working with psychologists and social workers too. These allied health professionals operate in visiting multidisciplinary teams in rural areas.

Indigenous health workers

In rural areas where there are indigenous communities, psychiatrists are likely to work with indigenous health workers. They perform multiple tasks, including providing educational and informational services concerning health promotion and direct clinical care of traditional healing. 

The RANZCP has a separate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health page to provide support services mental health professionals throughout Australia.

Working as a rural psychiatrist

The Support for Rural Specialists in Australia (SRSA) program helps the rural communities in remote regions in Australia to receive high standard of care from skilled medical specialists. The program provides grants of up to $10,000 to remote and rural medical specialists. 

Eligibility criteria for this program include:

The candidtae must work in rural Australia (Modified Monash 2-7 areas) and be a part of a specialist medical college as follows:

A fellow

An Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander trainee

A Specialist International Medical Graduate (IMG) who is under assessment

The candidate should have completed CPD activities in Australia or New Zealand within the grant round timeframe.

RANZCP section of rural psychiatry

The RANZCP section of rural psychiatry (SRP) promote the highest standards of medical practice, research, and training in relation to the practice of psychiatry in remote and rural towns in Australia. The SRP recognizes a unique set of skills that are required by medical specialists to practice in remote regions.

The SRP aims at achieving the following:

Promote the college objective and goals in relation to remote and rural psychiatry.

Provide advice on training in rural and remote regions.

Provide support for research in rural and remote areas.

Contribute towards achieving the highest standards in medical practice in rural and remote areas.

All members of RANZCP are eligible to join the SRP. 

Providing high-quality mental healthcare services has always been the goal of RANZCP. At present, there is a shortage of mental health service professionals in rural and remote regions, especially in areas such as child psychiatry and aged care. The Australian healthcare sector is working on bridging this gap providing access to high-quality mental healthcare services for the communities in rural and remote regions.

Medfuture is continuously dedicated towards promoting highly-skilled and experienced medical professionals within all states and suburbs in Australia. Visit our job board for the latest psychiatry jobs in Australia.

Here are a few related articles to read:

What is the difference between psychology and psychiatry?

The advancement of rural and remote medicine in Australia