Today, August 18th 2019 is 5 years since Don Medical Clinic opened our doors. The clinic started as an on-campus clinic at Don College in early 2013. October last year saw the clinic face some significant obstacles and fatigue largely due to the chronic inability to attract new doctors to the area.

We are excited to still be open and running with renewed vigor and direction. We are grateful for some of the opportunities that we have had to be in this position. We are grateful to all of those people who have contributed to the business. Some of those people remain, some have moved on , some have returned and new people have joined us.

In the past 12 months we have :

1. Employed a practice manager - Jane Lucas-Banks - who has been completing a UTas Graduate Certificate in Clinical Redesign

2. To provide timely appointments and ongoing care we have utilised locum general practictioners who have been complimentary about the practice philosophy and had they been able , would have considered staying longterm. This has been great affirmation for us and that we are on the right track.

3. We have had doctors return from maternity leave to do locums as they decide on the next steps of their professional and personal careers

4. Our receptionist Anita McCall is completing a medical assistant course as we look at alternative ways to deliver care that is not so dependent on doctors

5. We have marketed ourselves more intensely, utilising Ben and Sally Milbourne to create an advertisement to help us market Devonport and the practice to the medical community.

6. We continue to support UTas Rural Clinical School , Burnie by hosting 5th year medical student who have become active members of the practice team. We also offer placements over the summer holiday period for local students studying medicine.

7. Practice nurse, Tamara Young has completed her nurse immuniser training

8. The practice continues to parttake in the Health Care Homes program and have registered 150 patients and we are now looking at implementing the online shared health plan.

9. We are utilising Ian Abraham's Optometry skills and now offer the dedicated "Devonport Dry Eye Clinic" as a service that offers advanced, specialised equipment and treatments for Dry eye disease

10. Dr Jane continues to speak to GP registrars and medical students about adolescent health and the diverse nature of general practice offered at Don Medical Clinic

11.This year the government ceased the DWS (district workforce shortgage) restrictions on doctors being able to work on the North West Coast. Most practices now are on an even playing field and we hope that this will allow Don Medical Clinic to support international medical graduates in the future.

12. The On-Campus Clinic at Don College has continued in to 2019 with a collaborative arrangement with Dr Jane and Cornerstone Youth Service, utilising Headspace funding - this is a very exciting project.

13. In second term, Don Medical Clinic collaborated with Don College and Physiotas and offered a 10 week exercise program where Don Medical Clinic patients worked with Don College students. This was a wonderful experience for all of those people involved and we are looking to offer a similiar program in 2020.

14. The clinic is also actively engaging in research to look at both clinical and systems and how they compare to evidence based medicine in the context of translational research.

Finally we would like to thank our patients and service providers for their ongoing support and faith in us and the service that we offer. The team continues to strive to offer quality care in spite of limited doctor manpower. We are excited about the future and hope to see the practice grow in spite of the challenges that face primary care. We hope that you will continue to join us on our journey.

The Don Medical Clinic Team