Regions
Grampians

Grampians

Whether you’re a wine taster, outdoor explorer or food lover, the Grampians has an adventure waiting for you. With four diverse patches that you can uncover, your paths for discovery are endless. In the heart of it all is the magnificent Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park.

Life in the Grampians

Watch: Explore life in the Grampians in the Victorian Rural Generalist Program

Grampians Lifestyle

The Grampians is home to some beautiful cool climate wineries and breweries with diversity of produce and amazing cafes, boutique shopping and local markets. There are also endless possibilities for hiking, camping, mountain biking and rock climbing.

The Grampians region offers almost everything you would find in a regional or metro city, and anything you are craving is probably only an hour away.

Come and be welcomed into a region that values and supports you in your career and lifestyle choices.

Our Training Program

The Grampians VRGP is the only medical training program to partner with regional, rural, public and private health services within a region, and provides clear pathways, partnerships and protected clinical rotations for career progression. The strong relationships between partner health services facilitates increased and diverse experiences, education and networking, while the smaller cohort within the Grampians program enables individualised support, rotation management and planning, and a tailored educational and training experience for trainees and their families.

RG1

The Grampians Intern Training Program is a partnership between East Grampians Health Service (Ararat), St John of God Ballarat Hospital and Maryborough District Health Service.

It is a community based intern program where the intern can gain a relevant and thoroughly hands-on experience in the roles and procedures of the rural doctor. The program is designed to create a strong basis for a rural medical career whilst also developing skills transferrable to any medical practice.

This is an innovative model, which provides participants exposure to both public and private health services in regional & rural locations. The core emergency term is at St John of God Ballarat Hospital. Core surgical and medical terms occur at Grampians Health Horsham.

Surgical terms include frequent sessions in theatre and exposure to anaesthetics. General Practice terms are at Clarendon Medical Centre & Nightingale Clinic (Maryborough) and Ararat Medical Centre. Accommodation is provided free in the rural towns.

RG2

The Rural Generalist Hospital Medical Officer (RGHMO) role at EGHS consolidates the rural community experiences obtained during General Practice and or Surgical rotations in Ararat. The RGHMO role clarifies the role of a Rural Generalist: seeing patients in the GP clinic, on the ward providing care in the hospital, Urgent Care Centre (UCC) and Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACFs).

The RGHMO role builds on the learning and knowledge of the Intern year and enables this to be put into practice with greater confidence and autonomy, in a hospital environment with GPs you know and who will support you.

Pathways in development

EGHS partners with Grampians Health Ballarat to provide RG2 contracts, Paediatric rotations, and to facilitate RG HMO rotations to EGHS. EGHS has strong relationships with all the Grampians rural health services, including plans to create additional RGHMO roles, facilitate RG2 rotations to GP clinics, and develop additional advanced training (RGA) positions in procedural skills including Obstetrics, Anaesthetics, Emergency, Paediatrics as well as offering Adult Internal Medicine (Geriatrics blended post) and Palliative Care.

Grampians RG Coordinator

Contact for further information: Kim Lane | grampians@vicruralgeneralist.com.au

"Being part of the VRGP has done wonders for my career. I’ve been exposed to clinical and professional encounters early on that I don’t think I would have seen had I been working in a metropolitan area or as a non-RG trainee. I’ve been able to be part of the action, make fantastic professional and personal networks and I know I’ll be back again for more."

Dr Daniel Wilson

"I have been blown away by the experiences available to me as an Intern on this program. Ultimately, I feel supported by a great team of doctors, nurses, allied health and non-clinical staff to increasingly develop my responsibility for patients and become part of the community I am working in."

Dr Meghan Ellis

"Working in a rural hospital early in my career has been excellent, affording me hands-on experience with a wide range of presentations and procedural skills that I might have otherwise missed. The VRGP has also been extremely supportive, by helping me secure desirable rotations, and facilitating high-quality ongoing education and training."

Dr Angus McCormack

Available Placements

Use this interactive map to learn about the health services and general practices within the Grampians region.