Jonathan Ries MDRS student on placement at the Strathalbyn Family Medical Centre was invited to accompany Mount Barker GP Dr Ben Moore, to the very remote Aboriginal community of Tjuntjuntjara, located in the Great Victoria Desert WA – 708km east of Kalgoorlie.
This is a monthly health service funded by both Kakarrara Wilurarra Health Alliance KWHA and SA Health.
The Kakarrara Wilurarra Health Alliance (KWHA) is an alliance of three remote health services – Spinifex Health Service (Tjuntjuntjara), Tullawon Health Service (Yalata, South Australia) and Oak Valley Maralinga Health Service (Oak Valley, South Australia).
Dr Md Moni, Medical Director of KWHA, organises a monthly charter flight from Adelaide to bring health practitioners to each of the three communities, for two days. The visiting specialists and allied health practitioners provide support to the primary health care teams on the ground. https://www.spinifexhealth.org.au/kwha-1
Jonathan and the team, flew out Thursday morning, “We left at 7am in a 10 seat charter plane from Adelaide Airport, stopping at Ceduna to refuel, then dropping off some of our healthcare team at Yalata and another stop at Oak Valley to drop off another GP. Finally, we flew to Forrest, to refuel again before finally arriving in Tjuntjuntjara around 1pm.”
Following their arrival, Jonathan spent the afternoon sitting in on consults with Dr Ben Moore, GP from Mt Barker. Later, a home visit to one of the elderly community members and then a tour of the town by the practice nurse.
“I spent Friday morning with an endocrinologist from RAH & QEH that joined our trip. We ended up doing a couple of our consults at the local art centre, which seems to be a hive of activity for the community. It was wonderful to see so many artists producing such authentic, beautiful paintings right in front of us. We found out that they do exhibitions and sell their art all over the world – including Belgium, Germany and Singapore!”
Jonathan also enjoyed meeting Michael Stevens, (known locally as Tyson), the Aboriginal Health Worker, translator and local ambulance driver. 
Friday’s consults finished at midday, leaving time for the essential paperwork and packing up, before flying out of Tjuntjuntjara in the early afternoon, picking up the other doctors on the way home and arriving safely in Adelaide just after 7pm.
Jonathan said “It was a wonderful experience, no doubt one of the highlights of my entire medical degree to date.“