Of Punjabi-Sikh heritage, Mandeep was raised on her immigrant family’s vineyard in the remote NSW town of Hillston – nearly 700 kilometres from Sydney. After undertaking her initial medical studies in India – her family’s country of origin – she returned to Australia to train as a junior doctor at Wagga Wagga Base Hospital, before moving to Sydney to commence Basic Physician Training at St Vincent’s Hospital. While her passion is cardiology, Mandeep is equally passionate about pursuing a career in Rural Generalism and returning to country Australia to live and work. The road to Rural Medicine has been an exciting one for her, detouring not only via India but also past what could have been a career in viticulture…had it not been for some timely advice from her mum!

Kate Hurst is a final year medical student at the University of Notre Dame’s Rural Clinical School in her home town of Wagga Wagga, NSW. A born and bred country girl, she’s been a strong advocate for initiatives to encourage and assist more rural high school students to consider Medicine and other healthcare fields for their future careers - and in her own backyard, the Riverina region, she's put this into action.

Dr Gerard Quigley is a quintessential Rural Generalist doctor who has served the small community of Cummins, on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula, for over 30 years – providing crucial local healthcare through both his general practice and the local hospital. 

He’s also been a long-term supervisor of GP registrars and taught countless medical students in Cummins…helping to attract the next generation of doctors to a career in Rural Medicine.

In this podcast, Gerard talks about his path to Rural Medicine, his journey to Cummins, what has kept him there for more than three decades, how his clinical interests in Rural Medicine have changed over the years, and what he gets up to outside work.