Satellite Broadcasts

The Rural Doctors Program

Rural Health West produces The Rural Doctors Program, a monthly live television broadcast for rural and remote GPs and other allied health professionals. These programs deliver access to leaders in all areas of medicine via live studio discussions and presentations and also provide an opportunity for isolated GPs to call in and discuss concerns or directly question our panel of experts via a live phone link to the studio.

The Rural Doctors Program is 60 minutes of interactive television, broadcast nationally on the Westlink network. The programs are broadcast live to air from 7:30pm to 8:30pm on the first Tuesday of each month from February through to November each year.

Each program focuses on a single area of health or medicine, with specific attention to fast moving disciplines and changes to best practice guidelines or policy. The programs also provide information and advice designed to improve the daily working lives of GPs in rural and remote locations and equip them with the latest information about all areas of health, medicine and general practice.

Along with the live studio discussions, the Rural Doctors Program often includes:

Practical skills demonstrations
Reviews of new technology
Product reviews
Investigations into specific programs or services available to rural and remote GPs and their patients

As well as the wealth of information these programs provide, we believe that the ability to be directly involved in discussions with leading practitioners is of inherent value to rural and remote GPs by providing a sense of collegial participation, professional support and integration with the broader health community.

GPs are awarded Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points for viewing the program at a rate of 2 points per hour (program) from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and 1 point per hour (program) from the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine. Points can only be awarded once viewers have registered with Rural Health West and submitted a completed Attendance and Evaluation form. CPD points are not guaranteed and are subject to review by both agencies.

This narrowcast delivery can be viewed at 50 hospitals throughout the State or at the local telecentre in most WA towns. Anyone interested in viewing the program at home should contact the Aged Care Channel on +61 (02) 9450 2992.

The programs are also available for viewing on this website. The instructions and password for doing so can be obtained by contacting Rural Health West.

DVD copies of all our programs are also available for purchase for $10 each or $80 for a full year set of 10 programs. All enquiries or orders should be directed to Debra Levene at Rural Health West.

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