A rural specialist general surgeon in the Northern Rivers who played a major role in the response to the region’s devastating floods and is active in supporting junior doctors and advocating for a safe workplace culture in the medical profession – is one of two doctors to receive the RDAA Rural Doctor of the Year Award 2022.
Dr Sue Velovski was presented with the award at the recent Rural MedicineAustralia conference dinner.
She joined Dr Peter Rischbieth – who has been a rural generalist doctor in the South Australian town of Murray Bridge for 35 years – in receiving the award this year.
The award is presented annually to a rural doctor who has shown exceptional work above and beyond the call of duty, and leadership in areas like improving access to quality health care for their community.
Dr Velovski has been a specialist general surgeon in the Northern Rivers area since 2007 and provides a variety of surgical services in Lismore and Ballina, including cancer surgery and trauma-related surgery.
Outside medicine, Dr Velovski enjoys travel, keeping fit, sailing and swimming, and nature photography.
Dr Megan Belot said: ‘Sue is an absolute powerhouse, both in her local region and also on the State and national stage. She was a tireless advocate for cancer patients in Lismore during the COVID crisis, working hard to ensure they received timely surgical intervention at a time when the pandemic was impacting access to surgery.
‘Sue also played a huge role in the medical response to this year’s devastating Northern Rivers floods disaster, working tirelessly to assist flood-impacted patients.
‘As soon as she could leave her own home, she started helping patients with medication supplies and wound management for flood-related injuries wherever she could reach patients … even including service stations.’
Dr Belot said Dr Velovski was an active participant on the NSW Natural Disaster Emergency Response Group, and advocated strongly for better supports for local doctors whose practices were badly flood-damaged.
‘In junior doctor space, Sue is making a huge impact,’ she said. ‘She is an incredibly strong advocate for junior hospital doctors and their wellbeing and is passionate about ensuring a safe workplace culture for junior doctors in medical workplaces and the clinical training space.
‘In her local community, she organises social pizza nights to make new junior doctors feel welcome, and actively advocates for measures that will retain junior doctors in rural locations.’
Dr Velovski said: ‘I am totally embarrassed and humbled to receive this award. I tried to talk my way out of it, unsuccessfully, as for me it has always been about working with my teams – no one person creates a good or better outcome.
‘This award then, really, is for my practice staff, colleagues, trainees and medical students – particularly those who lived through the floods and helped so much in getting health care to those who needed it … and of course my mentors, who steered me away from city medicine to the challenges of global and rural health – Drs Bob Sillar, Hamish Foster and Johnny Graham.’
Dr Velovski said most of all, she loved seeing young trainee doctors from all walks of life recognise their unknown potential and give back to their communities.
‘After all, the only thing we leave behind is what we teach the next generation – both technical and non-technical – so it had better be good,’ she said.
