City Girl Visits Rural City To Give Back
by Marnie Norfolk
Marnie Norfolk met Louise Bibby at Victoria University around 2009. Marnie was working towards her Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Education while Louise was completing her studies to become an Osteopath.
I remember a friendly, smart, active, passionate country girl. Lou is now an inspiring Osteopath, achieving a great deal, and is committed and passionate about bringing health services to rural and remote Mallee communities with her growing team.
She established her clinic Central Mallee Health in Swan Hill and regularly travels to remote towns in the region to bring quality osteopathic services to areas that would normally have little access to this type of healthcare.
The team are great advocates for rural practice life in many ways, including maintaining connections with our universities to encourage osteopathic students to consider rural practice. They encourage and regularly invites Osteo students to do a rural internships in the Mallee Region.
In the later part of 2022, I was delighted to be invited to spend some time at Central Mallee Health, Swan Hill. Never that way, the drive to Swan Hill was long (around 4 hours) but certainly beautiful. The accommodation provided was centrally located and super comfortable near the pioneer settlement in town.
After settling in, I wanted to see the town and took some photos of the large Murray Cod and enjoyed some pub grub! Nothing like the fresh country air and friendly people. Early morning walks to see the sunrise and the Murray River were real highlights. Just the right location in the evening to relax and watch “Farmer wants a wife”!
Central Mallee Health is a well-organised and caring clinic environment. Meeting the team members and patients was very enjoyable and productive. I had to learn that it is normal to wait 4 weeks for a GP appointment and to drive to Melbourne for an MRI!
Some of the patients traveled to see me all the way from Halls Gap and Ballarat. Many traveled an hour for their appointment. I really enjoyed the opportunity to use my skills and experience to treat a variety of clients in a rural environment; it was such a rewarding experience.
Many of the patients I met were children. I was able to assess gross motor skill development and release body tension using hands-on osteopathic skills. Many patients were babies, for example, a baby that had traveled to Melbourne for assessment for tongue and lip tie. The dentist recommended osteopathic treatment rather than a surgical approach.
There are not many experienced osteopaths working with babies in the Mallee region. Lou and Jess are wonderful at treating babies, children, and working with their families. They enjoyed having another experienced colleague to help more children and families. Some of the patients I met were adults who complained of migraines and chronic pains. We were able to explore osteopathy in the cranial field as an approach for helping manage these complaints.
I was able to spend time with all the team members at Central Mallee Health; each practitioner received treatment, and most were able to observe and co-treat patients with me. Working in a more remote area reduces the number of opportunities to do continual professional development. In our modern world, there are many podcasts and online learning platforms which are a wonderful support for remote health workers.
I was able to run a lunchtime tutorial for the team exploring the manual approach to cranial venous sinus drainage. The team provided lunch, and the hands-on, face-to-face learning was a highlight of my visit to Central Mallee Health.
I would highly recommend Osteopaths from the city consider a journey to a rural community to collaborate, share ideas and improve access to healthcare in more remote areas of Victoria and Australia. I found it really satisfying, a wonderful experience in giving back.
As an experienced Osteopath living in the city, I love what I do, life is very busy and it is hard to get the work/life balance. I have many wonderful patients to work with and treat a wide range of conditions. There are many opportunities to attend hands-on and online professional development. In fact, too many sometimes, to fit them all in.
Rural practice is really rewarding. The variety of patient presentations is interesting. The practice work hours are more supportive of a great lifestyle. I did not need to work any weekends or late nights like I do in the city. The patients are so grateful to have more healthcare options in their local area and were very supportive of me being at Central Mallee Health.
Looking forward to my next visit!
See you soon Swan Hill.
Marnie
