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Yarrow Place Rape & Sexual Assault Service
Casual Doctors - After-hours panel
Are you ready to play a vital part in our community and help put our clients on the road to recovery?

Join us as a casual doctor at Yarrow Place and together we'll provide the very best care for women, men and young people who have experienced rape or sexual assault.

With the support of our dedicated team you'll attend after-hours call outs, carry out forensic medical examinations to collect and document evidence for legal use and potentially be an expert witness in court.

  • Develop specialised skills in forensic medicine
  • Be part of a coordinated, multidisciplinary team
  • Learn about legal processes to apply in your clinical practice

About us

Part of the Women's and Children's Health Network, we're the lead public health agency responding to adult rape and sexual assault in South Australia.

A community service with a state-wide mandate, we:

  • Provide direct services to people who have been raped or sexually assaulted and who were aged 16 years or more at the time of the assault
  • Are advocates in relation to key issues, public policy, planning and service delivery in the area of sexual violence against adults
  • Resource other agencies and workers to provide services to victims/survivors
  • Work to prevent rape and sexual assault

Why join us?

There are many personal and professional benefits to being part of our team:

Develop specialised forensic skills that set you apart

Through comprehensive training and the experiences at Yarrow Place, you'll develop specialised forensic skills and the ability to assess and document cases in a precise and thorough way. This can be a real advantage in other areas of your medical career, such as your clinical practice. The specialised forensic skills can be utilized nationally.

Have an important role with immediate impact

Contributing to the community and the justice process, your assistance in the early stages of a client's recovery is both personally and professionally rewarding.

Be part of a supportive team culture
Looking for new skills, training and support. We have a strong culture of mentoring and leadership. Assistance is always available from passionate, committed and inspirational colleagues.

Ongoing training and development

Committed to continual learning and helping you work at the highest level, we'll provide you with four training sessions per year, in addition to your extensive initial training.

FAQs

What skills and qualifications do I need?

We are looking for experienced doctors with well-developed interpersonal skills and a broad base of medical experiences. You should be prepared to undertake the Yarrow Place 3 day short course in forensic medical care.

What am I responsible for?

Using evidence based best practice you'll provide medico-legal examinations for people who've experienced a sexual assault. You'll also complete reports for use within the legal system and may be required to give expert evidence to the courts.

How often will I need to be on call?

Most doctors will be on call for three nights per month, however we understand that you may have other commitments and we're flexible with rostering. The main thing to know is that you'll have complete control over the shifts you want to work.

Will I need to provide counselling?

You will be working with social workers while providing the service who will assist you in addressing the emotional needs of the people you see. The Crisis Response Workers (social workers) will make initial contact with clients and provide a crisis intervention before you see the person who has been assaulted.

Will I need to go to court?

Court attendance as an expert witness is infrequently required. However if you do need to present evidence we'll provide full training, support and guidance from senior staff. More likely is the need to write reports and once again help is available for writing these.

Do I receive help if I need to attend a complex presentation?

A senior member of our team is available to accompany you if a situation is complex in nature and you feel you require guidance or assistance.

Meet our people

Our casual doctors currently working at Yarrow Place are keen to share why it has been a personally and professionally rewarding experience for them. Join us and they'll be available to train and support you.

Dr Monika Moy

After 15 years as a GP I had the desire to do something different and challenge myself. I saw an ad for Yarrow Place and was strongly drawn to the forensic component - particularly the combination of science and law. It also seemed like a great opportunity to use my skills in a new context - addressing a need in the community.

Now I get call outs about twice a month and spend, on average, three hours per call out. We meet the client at a mutually convenient time within 2 hours of being called, so there's flexibility around the exact timing of the call out. That also applies to other aspects of the rostering, so there's always support for my shift choices. Initially I was concerned about court attendances, but after lots of training, support from senior staff and even mock trials I felt well prepared. The reality is that these appearances are quite rare and in fact I've only been twice in four years.

It's natural for new doctors to worry about whether they will be emotionally traumatized, however clients generally spend time with both the police and crisis response workers before we see them. My work and interaction is also highly structured. We use a written checklist, which makes the process easier. It's also good knowing that senior staff can be phoned for practical or emotional support at any time, although I've rarely had to do this. There's also a debrief process available for any critical incidents.

This job won't appeal to everyone but for experienced GPs looking to branch out, this opportunity offers variety, enhanced skills, a useful education in legal matters and a chance to provide a vital service.

Dr Tonia Mezzini

Sexual health and gender politics has always interested me and in my practice I had a number of patients wanting advice on sexual assaults. It all came together when I saw a flier for Yarrow Place and I realised the training and experience would give me additional skills and further ability to advise patients.

I work as part of a team and I'm typically called in to attend after the Crisis Response worker takes the initial call from the police. The crisis response worker handles counselling before handing over to me. Police provide feedback on any legal outcomes and there is satisfaction of being involved in the legal process.

The work itself is very forensically oriented, requiring a high degree of concentration and technical skill, so it suits doctors who are clinically efficient and practical, with enough experience to be able to meet the client's needs.

Apart from working with a very supportive team, one of the biggest benefits is complete control over my shifts. As a GP and Sexual Health Registrar who's also studying for my Masters, I can manage my own level of commitment. It's also incredibly satisfying being part of the incident response. We're a passionate team who are dedicated to helping clients start their recovery process.

Dr Greg Dayman

A former colleague was working at Yarrow Place and introduced me to the service. For me, it was an opportunity to develop clinical and forensic skills in a new branch of medicine. Also because I wanted to contribute to the community, and I recognised that clients have a right to access a service that can help them.

The training was good preparation and there was plenty of assistance and mentoring, including being rostered on with an experienced doctor until I felt comfortable. Even now, peer support and follow up is a very active component and is always available.

I'm on call three times a fortnight and typically get called about twice a month. When on-call I'm also available to support doctors in country areas, although this only happens a few times a year. In some cases the police require a medico/legal report and, less frequently, I've attended court as an expert witness.

My interaction with clients after hours is focussed on crisis intervention. The patient care provided at this time can provide a powerful therapeutic benefit. I've found the work so rewarding that I've taken up an opportunity to become more involved, working 0.6 FTE with Yarrow Place and I'm now studying Forensic Medicine at a post-graduate level.

Apply

You can apply online today. If you have any questions please call - Dr Lyndall Young or Dr Greg Dayman on 08 8226 8777