This month we spoke to Dr Rosy Dobrijevic, General Practitioner and Medical Director at the UQ Health Care St Lucia and Gatton Clinics.

What do you enjoy about your role as a GP providing healthcare to students?
The diversity of presentations, further enhanced by our multicultural cohort of students. Satisfaction even from the easiest scenarios of providing education and support to the more complicated cases where referral or other resources are needed to provide the best outcome for the students.

What challenges do GPs currently face working in student health?
Increasing demands being placed on students, including financial and academic pressures with subsequent stress related presentations. Currently there is increasing community concern about how people, especially the younger age group, cope with stress and the related negative mental health outcomes. With this increasing concern comes improved insight, recognition, support and resources.

How do students benefit from having GPs available on campus?
Students benefit from having an easily accessible, free health service which provides comprehensive care, including access to our visiting mental health team, travel medicine, antenatal and paediatric care, provision of course related and catch up immunisations, contraception (including Implanon and IUDs) and sexual health, to name a few.

How important do you think it is to have these services available on campus?
Essential, as we are accessible and provide a free service, with no out of pocket costs for most consultations/procedures. For most students who are time poor and have financial constraints, a service on campus plays a major role in their healthcare. In addition our triage system caters for those who present acutely ill with assessment undertaken by our Registered Nurses, then GP consultation if needed.

Would you like to see any changes to the healthcare structure or the services offered by GPs to students?
We have been fortunate with recent refurbishments to add three consulting rooms and recruit new GPs, which will aid our challenge in meeting student demand.