Welcoming Dr Hannah Steele

Hannah will join the Ochre Medical Centre King Island in July where she will spend 13 weeks exploring rural medicine in a program funded by the Federal Department of Health.

The Rural Junior Doctor Training Innovation Fund is a community-based program designed to encourage more doctors to choose a rural general practice career. The program is the first of a number of programs that train, mentor and support doctors as they acquire experience in rural medicine through different stages of their training.

We asked Hannah a few questions about herself:

Where are you from? 

I was born and raised in Hobart, Tasmania and have lived there my whole life up until the last three years, where I moved to Burnie to complete my medical studies.

Where did you do your medical degree? 

I studied medicine at the University of Tasmania, completing three years in Hobart, and my final two years at the Rural Clinical School on the North West Coast.

What made you decide on medicine as a career?

I enjoyed the thought of the academic challenge, and combining knowledge with physical skills as a career, that focuses on health. I am the first person in my family to go down a medical pathway, and have absolutely no regrets!

What did you do before embarking on a medical pathway?

I went straight from college to university to study medicine, however spent some time studying Japanese at a university level – please don’t ask me to speak any though (its been a while).

What do you think you will enjoy and gain from your rural placement? 

I am looking forward to completing a placement in a location that I have not yet been to. It will be good to get back to the basics of health, where investigations are not readily available, and reliance on clinical skill become more important – how medicine should be. I am looking forward to becoming part of a community, and think I will gain many valuable skills from the people I will work with, and meet.

What specialties interest you?

My current interests include global health, trauma and acute medicine, as well as sexual health. It’s quite a wide range actually, which makes me think I will be very suited to general practice.

What are your impressions of the region where you are going to do your rural placement?

My current impression of King Island is cheese, wine and surf. From my colleges who have gone there they have reported how incredibly lovely the locals are, and how much of a community aspect it is. Not only that, but how beautiful the scenery is.

Have you been there before?

I have not been to King Island before, but cannot wait to see a new part of Tasmania.

What hobbies and interests do you have outside of your career? 

Outside of medicine, I am very big on nature – walking, hiking, bike riding, basically anything that involves seeing the outdoors. I also enjoy having an active role in advocating for policy change at a government level, in relation to our climate crisis as well as promoting LGBTQIA+ health.