A school excursion to Central Queensland triggered what has now become a dream career realised for new Royal Flying Doctor Service (Queensland Section) Flight Nurse Megan Wood.
Mrs Wood, who in August took to the skies from the RFDS Rockhampton Base, was the recipient of the RFDS Dalara Midwifery Scholarship, which enabled her midwifery studies to be funded and her dream career working as an RFDS Flight Nurse come to fruition.
“I remember a school trip to Longreach and learning all about the RFDS,” Mrs Wood said. “I remember thinking how cool it sounded and from then on it was all I wanted to do.”
After moving to Queensland from Darwin in 2015, Mrs Wood completed her intensive care and critical care training in Townsville and Brisbane.
She then took the plunge to undertake her midwifery training, a prerequisite for RFDS Flight Nurses in Queensland.
“I knew I had to do midwifery at some stage and I actually never expected to get the scholarship,” Mrs Wood said. “Knowing how competitive it is, and the sacrifice you have to make to undergo the training, I had a bit of self-doubt and you don't think you’re necessarily worthy.
“You have to give up so much in order to get your midwifery certification, basically becoming a student again. It feels like a lot of sacrifice at the time, but it's worth every minute to now be part of the Flying Doctor team.
“I had this moment during my first week. We were flying over Monto and the sun was setting. I was managing my patients but had to take a moment and pinch myself in a moment of realisation that I was actually working for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
“I'd been working towards this for so long, and you have this moment when you're looking after your patient and look out over the sunset and think, ‘this is actually happening – I’ve done it’.”
Mrs Wood will be part of the RFDS Rockhampton team, which flies more than 2,500 patients to emergency and specialist care each year.
The Dalara Foundation is a philanthropic fund run by long-term RFDS supporters, Alan and Lyn Davies and their family. The Davies spent most of their lives living in rural and regional Australia and understand firsthand the importance of the RFDS.
