Dr Duncan MacKinnon has been named RACGP General Practitioner of the Year for 2020. Photo: Supplied.
Dr Duncan MacKinnon, from Bega Valley Medical Practice, has served the community tirelessly for the past 25 years. His selfless service has been celebrated by The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) and he has been named RACGP General Practitioner of the Year for 2020.
Apart from serving as a GP in Bega for more than two decades, Dr MacKinnon is also a visiting medical officer (VMO), GP anaesthetist and Bega Valley GP Liaison Officer, who contributes many valuable hours to the South East Regional Hospital as well as the local health network.
“It was a great honour to win the NSW and ACT GP of the Year award and now the national award,” he says. “Receiving the honour is encouraging because a lot of what we do is unrecognised and unsung. We don’t do it for the accolade, but it is encouraging to receive an award such as this.
“My journey during the past 25 years has been a long learning curve and you never stop learning. Sometimes it’s been rewarding and other times distressing, but it helps you grow as a person.
“During the past two decades, I have had the opportunity to work with wonderful people and have been surrounded by a team of likeminded people who spur each other on to do the kind of things that make a difference to our community.”
When Dr MacKinnon decided to move to Bega, he wanted to enhance his skills.
“I also wanted to be involved in community work and make a difference,” he says. “So working in a small country town seemed like an ideal situation for me.”
During the 2019-2020 bushfires, Dr MacKinnon helped to coordinate the local health response, including at the local evacuation centre in Bega. He played a key role in advocating for GPs in the local emergency response and fought strongly for increased funding and support for counselling services post-bushfires.
“It was a time of crisis,” he says. “I was fortunate that our house was not threatened directly, which gave me an opportunity to care for people who aren’t that fortunate.
“It’s really critical that people pull together at times like these to communicate and cooperate with each other for the greater good. Small communities do that really well.”
However, Dr MacKinnon laments that GPs are not a part of disaster management plans.
“Since then [the bushfires] we have done a lot of work with the RACGP to get the role of primary care recognised into that plan so we can implement the best care that we can provide,” he says.
Dr MacKinnon also encourages future doctors to practice in rural areas.
“It is extremely rewarding and gives you a great opportunity to see the positive impact of your work in the community every day,” he says.
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