Flying Doctors take flight: Largest RFDS doctor intake in history

The Royal Flying Doctor Service (South Eastern Section) has kicked off 2025 by bolstering its ranks with one of the largest doctor intakes for emergency and retrieval services in its history.

After starting with the RFDS in early-February, the 11 new doctors have undertaken intensive training in everything from deadly snakebites to multi-vehicle road accidents to ensure they were equipped with the tools and knowledge to help communities who need healthcare in the bush.

RFDSSE’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Shannon Nott said, “Our aim is to have a steady cohort of 15 highly trained doctors to support our aeromedical services across our Broken Hill and Dubbo bases. We are in a privileged position that so many of our doctors will go on to tell their colleagues about how amazing the Royal Flying Doctor Service is – which is why 8 of the 11 that have joined us are from places like the UK, Germany, and Norway.

“Top of the list of what makes the RFDS a great place to practice medicine is our extensive and world-class training. During their onboarding, the new doctors took part in a primary rescue simulation in partnership with Dubbo’s VRA Rescue NSW volunteers, gained hands-on experience at Sydney’s helicopter base, and learned from RFDSSE experts in aeromedical operations.”

Their immersive onboarding included high fidelity real-world simulated patient scenarios, including those out in the field at the renowned ‘Farm Day’. This Farm Day created high-pressure simulations, recreating both common and highly challenging incidents that RFDS doctors need to be versed in managing, across some of the most remote geographies in the country.

Drowning, heart attacks, and even a person getting kicked in the head by a horse were all brought to life by the RFDSSE, with the help of Sydney University’s School of Rural Health medical students acting as ‘patients’.

“While on the job, we don’t know what each day will bring, and when you’re in a remote location with just a flight nurse and a pilot, you need to be prepared for every occasion,” Dr Shannon Nott said. “We train for all scenarios, from very common presentations like heart attacks to more rare procedures such as those known as HALO (High Acuity, Low Occurrence) that can literally mean the difference between life and death.”

RFDSSE’s Co-Medical Director for Emergency and Retrieval Services, Dr Peter Brendt said, “Bringing critical care medicine to the bush is challenging but incredibly rewarding. In the last year alone, our 14 planes flew over 3.2 million kilometres to help patients in New South Wales and ACT– yet Western NSW still faces a 49% higher rate of potentially avoidable deaths compared to NSW"

“This is why attracting experienced and passionate doctors into these communities is so critical. I am particularly excited about this most recent intake as it’s the largest new cohort of emergency and retrieval services doctors since I joined the RFDSSE over 10 years ago.”

Originally hailing from the UK, 2024 recruit Dr Mina Arsanious said, “I’ve known the Flying Doctor as the oldest continuously running aeromedical service. Now, I’m pinching myself that I’m actually working for them. My passion lies in pre-hospital care, but the UK doesn’t have the same need for aeromedical retrieval like Australia. I’m looking after an area nearly 2.5 times bigger than the whole of the UK and seeing cases like nothing I would see back home.”

2024 recruit Dr Guy Hardwick, also from the UK, echoed Dr Arsanious. Dr Hardwick said, “With the Flying Doctor, you get experience unlike anything else in the UK. You’re often several hours away from the nearest hospital, with limited resources and sometimes just one other healthcare professional. The RFDS gives you all the support you need to give your patient the best chance. When you’re working in challenging situations, you can’t help but gain a huge amount of confidence.”

Amanda Edwards, an RFDS Flight Nurse who was inducted in 2023, has participated in training alongside the aeromedical doctors many times. “I can’t stress how valuable the RFDS' training is, because it’s so different to what you’ve ever done before. The orientation week was brilliant. You run the scenarios as if they are real – and because you immerse yourself in them, they actually feel real.”