BUSH DOCTOR

Damien is convinced that this is the best job anywhere: beautiful skies, red earth, dramatic landings, treating families in remote communities. At a tiny, isolated hospital in central Australia, a paramedic arrives with a joey for babysitting, police help to bring in two men from a car crash, and a young man with heart failure doesn’t want a transplant – he’d rather stay on Country. Damien’s other job is with the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Can they reach two badly burnt men in time after a fuel tank explodes on a remote Queensland cattle station? Meanwhile, Damien and his girlfriend Maya, an aid worker living in London, try to maintain a long-distance relationship. During a violent week, Damien’s exasperation boils over: the difficult cases keep arriving, and social issues can’t be fixed in clinics. But the medical wins are many, and Damien finds that small interventions and human connections can be more important than dramatic rescues. By turns thought-provoking, funny, and deeply moving, Bush Doctor is a testimony to people’s resilience in difficult situations, and the joys and hardships of working in some of the most isolated parts of the country.