LOCAL medical practice My GP Tamworth is bucking the trend when it comes to difficulties attracting new doctors in regional areas.
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The family-run GP owned and managed by long-time locals Casey and Rick Sullivan has recently welcomed three new doctors to its growing team.
Dr Nada Abu Alrub started a few weeks ago after a stint in Moree, and Dr Farhad Dilyar and Dr Saviz Sasani will soon come on board full-time after relocating from Sydney.
Dr Casey Sullivan told the Leader the fresh recruits mean the practice now has eight GPs on board.
"Dr Farhad and Dr Saviz are both qualified GPs here for the long-term, moving to Tamworth to work permanently," she said.
Dr Saviz, from Iran originally, has just moved to town and has started taking new patients after completing all of her isolation time. Meanwhile, Dr Farhad, from Afghanistan originally, has moved from Sydney's Macquarie Fields.
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Word-of-mouth is the best way to attract new doctors, Dr Sullivan said.
"Dr Farhad has a good friend that's already a doctor in Tamworth which is why he got in touch with us," she said.
"If you treat your GPs well, other GPs will talk to their friends and say you've got to come to this place."
When the clinic opened in 2017 they only had one full-time GP, Dr Sullivan herself, and to see the team's growth has been fantastic.
"We take a very different approach on how to recruit GPs and it's been working amazing," she said.
"We've got another gentleman who is keeping in touch with us, he was supposed to be here last year before borders closed. He's from Iran and we've got a second one from Canada who is again waiting for borders to open.
"This is all through word-of-mouth."
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