Research provides insights into rural GP practice
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25 years of giving back: Dr Kellie West, 2023 GPTQ Bursary recipient.
In 2023, AMA Queensland Foundation launched the General Practice Training Queensland (GPTQ) Training and Research Bursary for Queensland GPs and GP Registrars (GPRs) to support training and research in general practice. Four recipients were presented, including GPR Dr Kellie West, who was awarded the bursary to pursue both research and training to support her Yeppoon community and beyond. GPTQ Bursary applications are currently open for 2025, and we thought it would be the perfect time to catch up with Dr West and learn more about the progress of her research.
Dr West was returning to regional Queensland to work as a GP after ten years in Sydney when she was awarded the GPTQ bursary. She arrived in Yeppoon with a goal to work as a clinical GP, using research to contribute to the health of her community. “I deeply resonated with the ACRRM motto: 'The right doctors, in the right places, with the right skills, providing rural and remote people with excellent healthcare’,” Dr West said.
Dr West holds advanced skill in academic practice as part of her Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) training and was also enrolled in a PhD at Monash University part-time, which she has since transferred to Bond University.
Research outcomes
Dr West’s research project explores the current landscape of GP involvement in public health initiatives and the use of population health methods to improve the health of communities, with a particular interest in obesity management.
“The most unique part of my research so far is the large proportion of rural participants. It is invaluable that I can show this unique perspective on both a domestic and world stage,” she said.
“The GPs I interviewed showed a real passion for the topic of GP research and GP involvement in improving the health of their communities.”
She hopes to use her research findings to design a tool for general practitioners to identify population health strategies they can apply in their communities.
She says it is important that the tool is informed by the real-world experiences of GPs.
“This is invaluable in guiding research that is useful for GPs and their communities,” she said.
Thanks to the GPTQ Training and Research Bursary, Dr West has now drafted her research paper on these important insights into the experiences of rural GPs and is looking forward to its publication once she concludes her PhD.
Training outcomes
Funds from the GPTQ Training and Research Bursary also enabled Dr West to attend three conferences as an external research candidate in Sydney, Darwin and Montreal in 2024.
“All three of these events were important events for GP research and important platforms for my findings. I also believe it is important for me to showcase rural GP research,” she said.
Next steps
With her ACCRM training now complete, Dr West continues to work in Yeppoon while awaiting the outcome of her fellowship and looks forward to advancing her career as a clinician researcher.
“I’m enjoying being engaged with clinical work, research and teaching,” she said.
In addition to the research project, Dr West has also been giving back to rural medicine through a teaching position at the UQ rural clinical school.
“It’s really rewarding teaching the future generations of rural Queensland doctors,” she said.
She says the bursary has enabled her to engage with the academic side of practice as an academic clinician.
“There aren’t a lot of rural academic clinicians out there, and I think it’s beneficial to have someone in the community doing that,” she said.
AMA Queensland Foundation looks forward to seeing more of Dr West’s insights into rural practice in the coming years.
Could a $20,000 bursary help you?
GPTQ Training and Research Bursary applications open annually for Queensland GPs and GPRs. 2025 applications close on 1 May 2025. If you have a training or research idea that will benefit your community, we welcome your submission.