Doctors' Day

Whether it be through primary health or emergency care, the RFDS SA/NT team of 26 doctors, alongside our entire workforce, deliver more than 56,000 episodes of care each year.

To mark Doctors’ Day, we reached out to three of our team to ask them what their job means to them. Here’s what they said...

Dr Yasmin Endlich - Critical Care/Retrieval Doctor, Port Augusta Base

After starting her medical career in Austria, Yasmin was looking for a sea change and moved to South Australia in 2009 – she has never looked back.

Yasmin completed her anaesthetic training, before working at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and the Port Augusta Hospital, where she frequently noticed the RFDS logo around town, spiking her interest. When an opportunity arose to join the RFDS as a Retrieval Doctor in 2021, she grabbed it with both hands.

“The most rewarding part of my job is simply flying out to different communities and making a difference in patients’ lives. You’re confronted with everything from minor fractures, coughs and colds through to major traumas, heart attacks and asthmatic patients. I’m still amazed at how big this country is. When you fly over outback Australia, you see the red earth and realise just how remote some people live – so, providing care to these communities is a privilege.”

Dr James Padley - Rural Generalist, Port Augusta Base

James moved from the east coast of Australia to Adelaide and trained at the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, completing his training with the RFDS and becoming a Rural Generalist

From primary health to emergency care, every day, James has to employ his breadth of knowledge and education. It’s this plethora of skills that drew him to remote medicine in the first place.

“One of my early placements as a medical student was in Arnhem Land in the NT, and then later on I worked in Katherine and overseas in the Solomon Islands – all of which was life-changing. At the end of the day, someone’s on the phone or in the middle of nowhere – they need help, they may be afraid or in pain, and being able to provide that care is really rewarding. I feel fortunate to work somewhere like the RFDS, where we work as a team to give back to our patients, communities and the next generation.”

Dr Afia Haziq - Intern Doctor, Port Augusta Base

Afia recently migrated from Pakistan, after being attracted to Australia due to its multiculturalism and way of life.

She has completed her Australian Medical Council exams and is currently interning with the RFDS for four months as she hones her emergency and primary healthcare skills.

“I’m very fortunate and lucky to be a part of RFDS. The smile the RFDS brings when we go to the outback and meet people is nothing like I have ever seen. Being a junior doctor and receiving great feedback from patients – it’s very rewarding. We don’t have any services like the RFDS in Pakistan, so my family back home is really fascinated by it all.”