DR Greg Ivanoff, from Gippsland, is a recipient of an Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) 2022 Distinguished Service Award for his significant contribution to rural and remote medicine and general service to the community.
With an aspiration to serve rural communities, Dr Ivanoff has been contributing to the health of Gippsland townships for the past two decades.
The College award comes at a particularly welcoming time for Dr Ivanoff, who reflects on his career and his time training at ACRRM.
“Being the footy club doctor and the local doctor residing in each community has enabled me to optimise medical services, as part of a broader team, in these towns,” Dr Ivanoff says.
“I feel very honoured to be recognised as a community focussed rural doctor working in Gippsland. ACRRM has really helped me to focus on the health of a township in urgent need of medical services.
“My greatest FACRRM (Fellow of ACRRM) memory was working 24/7 on call in a remote town in Far East Gippsland, with a team of three highly trained rural generalists providing obstetric, surgical, radiological, and emergency afterhours services.”
With an avid interest in emergency services, Dr Ivanoff’s goal is to highlight the plight of Victoria’s Rural Urgent Care Centres, including the dedicated staffing and community access.
In 2012 he was appointed as the Field Emergency Medical Officer (FEMO) for Central Gippsland and he is currently the designated rural/regional FEMO for Outer Gippsland, including the Latrobe Valley.
“Having fully participated on 24/7 call rosters over the last 20 years, it is something I am deeply passionate about,” Dr Ivanoff said.
“I would like to be involved in promoting a supported and safe working environment for all rural and remote medical practitioners in the future.”
Dr Ivanoff acknowledges his appreciation for rural Gippsland as a place where he has raised his family, and notably mentions how far the region has come, and where it is going.
“The facilities that are now available in the regional capital, Traralgon, are world class,” he said.
“I am excited to be a part of further improving health facilities in this growing community.”
