WeCare Health has a full team of doctors ready to treat Bathurst

It's been 12 months since WeCare opened it's doors, with the aim of meeting the needs of a rural community by supplying as many services as possible, and also alleviating some of the pressure in the hospital's emergency department.

Practice principal and medical lead Dr Pav Phanindra said it's great to have such a range of experience at WeCare, and he hopes the community makes the most of their services.

Doctors go through years of training to become a general practitioner (GP), and should be the community's first point of call when they are unwell, according to Dr Pav.

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"Patients go to the hospital if they can't see a GP, sometimes not all the time, if they've very unwell and people need to be aware that when they go to the emergency department, they could see someone who has just started off in the hospital system after finishing medical school," Dr Pav said.

"But when you come to the general practice, this is the bread and butter of general practice; ear infections, throat infections, chest infections, urinary tract infections, heart diseases, this is what we deal with.

"None of these are doctors who have just finished medical school, they've done all the important terms to give them the expertise and experience to work in the general practice system."

One of a new faces at WeCare is Dr Ward Ahmed, who came to Bathurst as an intern during COVID and wasn't able to leave.

While she said it was difficult not being able to see her family overseas or her friends in Sydney, the situation was a blessing in disguise for Dr Ahmed, who now loves working in Bathurst.

She said the idea of being a patient's constant doctor, and building up trust and a relationship is why Dr Ahmed wanted to become a GP in the first place.

"When I was a medical student we used to follow doctors and one of the patients said, 'I go to my doctor,'," Dr Ahmed said.

"I never understood the concept of 'my doctor'. So I asked that patient who is your doctor, and they said it was their GP, so since then it's stuck in my head and I want to be known as someone's doctor."

Despite the current decrease in the number of doctors who provide bulk billing services, WeCare is still a mixed billing practice and open seven days a week, with the aim catering for all members of the community.

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