Dr Ross Wilson is the 2023 recipient of The Brian Williams Award

Dr Wilson was recently announced as the 2023 Brian Williams Award recipient.

The award, which is sanctioned by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, is presented to acknowledge those whose mentoring and support enables rural doctors to safely dedicate themselves to their patients, families, and communities.

For nearly four decades, Dr Wilson has been doing just that.

Working as a General Practitioner (GP) in Bathurst, a large portion of Dr Ross Wilson's career has been dedicated to furthering his own education, and fostering the education of young doctors.

He has worked in anaesthetics, obstetrics and paediatrics, as well as a senior lecturer with Charles Sturt University and as Rural Director at the University of Western Sydney.

Dr Anne Gilroy has worked with Dr Wilson for around three-quarters of his career, and she believes that he was the perfect choice as the recipient of the award.

"I think it's very well-deserved," she said.

"He's done so much for general practice here in Bathurst and has always been a very dedicated general practitioner, long-serving to his patients.

"He's done marvellous things with teaching of general practitioners, young doctors, through the university and through the practices to really elevate Bathurst as a teaching area for general practice."

Though Dr Gilroy believes that Dr Wilson's contribution to rural medicine is of an extremely high calibre, she said he always remains humble, regardless of any formal recognition.

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"I think Ross is Ross, I'm sure he's very happy about it, but he never spouts his own importance," she said.

And this was exactly the case when he found out he was the Brian Williams Award recipient. Dr Wilson said he was "embarrassed."

"It's not something that I do my job for, and I'm sure that there are a lot of other guys around the countryside that deserve it just as much, if not more than me," he said.

Despite thinking there were others more deserving, and that he was awarded by a sheer stroke of luck, when Dr Wilson paused to really consider the achievement, he was hit with a different feeling.

Especially considering the well-established nature of the award, which has been running for more than a decade.

"I'm quite honoured actually," he said.

"Brian Williams was a real shining light in the college of GPs and this is really the highest award from the rural faculty of the college."

Dr Wilson was officially named as the Brian Williams Award recipient at a ceremony in Sydney at the World Organisation of Family Doctors (WONCA).

Since then, he has been congratulated by many people in the community, and it isn't the first time he has received a prestigious award, as 20 years ago he was named Australian GP of the year.

But these accolades aren't the reasons why he does what he does.

"I enjoy the people. I also enjoy my interactions with my medical colleagues, both doctors and nurses and allied health," he said.

"And I guess I enjoy giving something back to the community that supports me."

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