It’s been a long road and a lot of work, but Sarina’s Jodie Elliott is happy to be back where it all started.
Jodie is one of the 38 interns who have started their supervised clinical training with Mackay Hospital and Health Service (HHS). She is definitely no stranger to transitioning from a student to the workforce, with many years of study and hard work already behind her.
Born in Emerald and growing up in Sarina, Jodie took a gap year after high school and worked locally as a lifeguard, receptionist and personal trainer.
“I always wanted to do a gap year and at school I was heavily involved in representative hockey and played for Queensland; but I didn’t really know what I wanted to do beyond that,” she said.
“So I thought sports science might be a good degree for me.”
Jodie moved to Brisbane and studied exercise and sports science at the University of Queensland for four years.
“I wanted to go to Brisbane for hockey initially and when I completed my degree I worked for a couple of years as a personal trainer and exercise scientist, but then realized I really wanted to do more to help people after I had the opportunity to work closely with a client post stroke. So I applied then to do physiotherapy.”
After another two years of study at Griffith University, Jodie returned home to work at the Mackay Rehab Hospital before making a move to London with her husband Andrew. After 12 months working in the NHS and at various private hospitals, she decided to chart a course towards a career in medicine.
“At school I never thought I wanted to be a doctor but after studying exercise science and then physiotherapy and working in hospitals with a variety of patients, I guess it was a progression of interest and curiosity really,” she said.
“There’s just so much to know in the scope of medicine; it’s really quite incredible.”
Jodie has now completed her four-year, post-graduate medicine degree through the University of Queensland.
“I’ve always enjoyed studying and have really valued the opportunities I’ve had to progress my learning and knowledge,” she said.
“I’ve been very lucky to have the incredible support of my husband and family whilst I studied and to be able to work casually as a physio while I completed my med degree.”
Jodie’s first clinical year of student placement was at Prince Charles Hospital, the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital as well as the Queensland Children’s Hospital. She has also done rotations at rural centres including Emerald and in Mackay as well as a GP rotation in Logan.
With a passion for regional medicine, she has set her sights on a career as a Rural Generalist. As an intern at Mackay Base Hospital this year, she is looking forward to exploring a wide variety of clinical training and developing the advanced, broad skill set required to support the health needs of rural communities.
“The Rural Generalist Pathway really ticked all the boxes for me – we want to live rurally and I really wanted variety in my work and to develop that necessary wide skill set – from the very start it was something that really appealed to me,” she said.
Jodie’s first work rotation at the Mackay Base Hospital is orthopaedics, followed by general medicine, obstetrics and gynaecology as well working in the emergency department at Proserpine Hospital.
A regional internship meant the scope of practice and chance to upskill was plentiful. She is looking forward to the hands-on practical training after so many years of clinical study.
“The rural generalist pathway is fairly set out in terms of what the requirements are so there’s quite a lot of study and upskilling still involved in that,” Jodie said.
“Down the track I’m open to doing research and possibly a PhD – but don’t tell my husband that just yet,” she said.
