Bush Bursary students welcomed to Narrabri

Two Notre Dame University medical students Marnix Bakker and Rory Maguire have embarked on a busy program to gain hands-on experience of life as a rural GP.

Rory and Marnix have come to Narrabri Shire as participants in the Bush Bursary and Country Women’s Association scholarship program in partnership with the NSW Rural Doctors Network.

The program aims to expose medical students to life in a rural area and hopefully encourage them to return to the bush as qualified doctors when they graduate.

The two Narrabri Shire visitors are enthusiastic about their country experience.

“We have been looking forward to this for months,” they told The Courier.

They will spend the next two weeks working alongside health professionals in Narrabri and Wee Waa hospitals, Boggabri Medical Centre and private practices.

They are looking forward to the diversity of experiences and challenges country medicine offers.

Both were keen to move out of the city and into the rural areas.

Rory grew up on a farm in Zimbabwe, moving to Queensland with his family when he was 14, spending ‘a lot of time in the country’ and onto Sydney in 2021.

Marnix spent his childhood in the Netherlands. He has worked profesionally in Dubbo and Nyngan as a physiotherapist which sparked his interest in rural health.

The students were welcomed to Narrabri shire by deputy mayor Cathy Redding who emphasised the great opportunities the Rural Doctors’ program offered across the spectrum of rural health.

“It will be a great experience – previous medical students on the program in Narrabri Shire have just loved their country experience,” Cr Redding said.

Cr Redding said Narrabri Shire Council was proud to be a supporter of the Rural Doctors Network initiative.

Narrabri Shire, a long time supporter of the program, is one of just a handful of councils which traditionally sponsor the Rural Doctors’ scholarship initiative.