Meet Dr Vivienne Whitechurch: Rural Women's GP

Think the RFDS is ‘just’ planes? Think again. In this series, you’ll meet the many faces of the Flying Doctor and learn about the different and dynamic roles they have.

GPs are hard to come by in rural and remote locations, and female GPs can be even harder to find.

RFDS’s Rural Women’s GP program works to address this, sending female GPs to Victorian communities to provide support and increased capacity to existing services, while also giving Victorians a gender choice and external option when it comes to seeing a clinician.

Melbourne-based Dr Vivienne Whitechurch works as part of the program, travelling to the communities of Charlton and Yarram eight times each per year.

Like any GP, there are a range of reasons why men and women book appointments with Vivienne; however personal issues like mental health, gynaecological queries, menopause concerns, and incontinence are common. This, Vivienne believes, is because she is well known by locals, but doesn’t actually live in the area.

“I can see them in the surgery but they don’t have to see me down the street. They don’t want to get their clothes off in front of the local GP that they play badminton with!”

Equally, a visit to discuss one problem can lead to a really productive, helpful conversation about another health issue.

“They come for the cervical screening and while they’re in the door I always go through all the other preventative health (like cardiovascular) stuff too. Some of the older ladies will come to me and talk about their incontinence or problems that they’ve never actually revealed to the GP before,” she says.

Vivienne adds that by having increased GP services available locally, people are more likely to address health concerns or procedures that distance may normally discourage them from addressing.

“If you’ve got a cervical screening or mammogram due, but you’ve got to take a day off work to get it done, then you find that they just don’t do it,” she says.

Having worked in the towns for quite some time, Vivienne is well known and appreciated by the locals. If a vacancy pops up, the receptionists will ring around town and find someone to fill it quickly.

That appreciation extends to the Flying Doctor donors who make services like this possible.

“They love it, they really appreciate it,” says Vivienne.

“They appreciate having someone different to talk to and they’re very respectful of you, and always very appreciative of anything you do for them. It also supports the GPs, we support them with their knowledge, or if they want a second opinion – it shares their workload too.”