Meet Dr Matt Davidson a Western Australian (WA) Stage 3 rural trainee and psychiatry registrar at WA Country Health Service – Kimberley Region. Dr Davidson is also the Chair of WA Association of Psychiatry Trainees Committee. 

 1. Tell us a little bit about yourself

On paper, I’m a psychiatry registrar in rural training. In real life, I’m a country kid turned primary school teacher turned doctor and back into a country kid who loves music, photography, exercise, and his friends and family. I seem to always be moving – every six months over the past three years, I’ve moved to a new place or region, carting around boxes that never get unpacked, and a $20 frying pan (that’s now seen more of the state than most people). 

2. What inspired you to choose a career in Rural psychiatry? 

I grew up in country WA, worked in country schools, and always wanted a rural life. The inspiration came in moments: when sitting with an old farmer who hadn’t seen a doctor since the ’90s and treating his depression (and diabetes and hypertension and hyperlipidaemia…) or caring for patients flown to the city for treatment, completely alone, and knowing intervention could have come sooner and come at home. Those moments made it clear – rural communities deserve better, and psychiatry has a big, if not central, role to play in that

3. You’ve been involved with a few Specialist Training Program projects such as the Jurisdictional Rural Trainee Networking Pilot Project. What has inspired you to take part in these projects?

What drew me in was the chance to be part of something for rural trainees that makes the distance feel a little less vast. Training out here can seem like an isolating experience, but projects like this remind us that we’re not doing it alone – we can connect, share ideas, and know we aren’t just part of a local community, we are part of a broader training family.

4. What have been some of your biggest takeaways from the roles you played in the projects above?

Advocacy is part of my day-to-day (as a doctor, as Chair of the WA Association of Psychiatry Trainees (WAAPT) and as a trainee representative on innumerable committees), but this project gave me a different way to help connect people across the state. Communities form and ideas spread when trainees are given space. I’ve seen them share frustrations, supports, resources, and most importantly – themselves, defining their identities outside of their jobs. It’s been a great reminder that, under it all, we are all human.

 5. How are you balancing work and life at your current stage in training?

Rural training keeps me balanced. As I’ve said, I am on more committees than I can count, but the lifestyle offsets the load. My family in Albany and my mates across the entirety of WA keep me grounded – I am exceptionally lucky to have them.

Outside of them, it is exercise that keeps me sane, music that restores my soul, and photography that lets me capture moments in time. These activities are all portable, which helps when you’re constantly on the move. It’s busy, but it works – and that’s the balance.

Lean into the chaos.