Medical oncologist Dr James Todd joins Bathurst Health Service staff

"Every week I'm finding out something new about it," Dr James Todd says of the beloved Howick Street cancer care hub where he is now based.

"It's great. The team is just extraordinary."

Dr Todd's appointment to the Bathurst Health Service has been welcomed by its director of medical services, Dr Marco Metelo, and Health Minister Ryan Park, who says the city will be gaining valuable expertise and experience.

"Attracting skilled and experienced clinicians to our regional and rural areas is always a challenge but one that I am committed to addressing," he said this week.

Dr Todd started working at Bathurst a few weeks ago.

"It's green, although I'm told it's a little bit more yellow at the moment than usual," he said of the landscape - one of the aspects of country living that has stood out to him so far.

"But, for me, it's wonderful and colourful compared to Sydney.

"I'm from Pyrmont in Sydney, so it's apartments and everything. There are lots of parks and it's a beautiful area [Pyrmont], I absolutely loved living there, but this is very different.

"The parks in the middle of the city [Bathurst] and how much atmosphere all the heritage buildings give off: I'm very pleasantly surprised by how cultured it all seems."

In terms of his background, Dr Todd said he completed his medical training and specialty training in 2016 and "I went off and did a PhD for five or six years".

"Towards the end of that, I was also a specialist at Norwest [Private Hospital]," he said.

"And probably, for about a month a year, I'd been coming out to Orange and Bathurst, helping out the team there: [medical oncologists] Pete Fox, Rob Zielinski, Lauren Bradbury.

"That's kind of how I came to be here.

"I was in Sydney, finished my PhD, doing private consulting work, and looking around for jobs in a public hospital, and I'd always kind of wanted to come out to Orange."

Back when he was finishing his training, Dr Todd said, a move to Orange didn't suit, but at a different stage of his life, a move to Bathurst "works a little bit better now".

He is in the city four days a week, splitting his time with Sydney.

"It's been really good," he said of his experience so far.

"The team here is kind of self-sufficient because they've never really had a permanent person here, so it's really nice being eased in a little bit because everyone's used to managing things themselves.

"And then I'm just here providing a lot more specialty support, so it's nice to have very capable people to work with and just providing an extra little bit of knowledge that goes a long way to help manage the stress of everybody else with the complicated oncology patients."

And why oncology?

"I suppose I was never one to shy away from a challenge," he said.

"And a little bit about the difficulty of care of oncology patients - that always appealed to me. There's a lot of science involved and there's a lot of new research and data coming out.

"I suppose, back when I became interested in it, back in 2006-2007, DNA was just starting to be decoded and the proteins and working all of these initial things out and it was really exciting.

"I came from a scientist background and did post-grad med, so all of the biochemistry and cellular pathways was super interesting.

"And then I thought that, I suppose, cancer is a multi-system process; it can really affect any organ of the body.

"So just the challenges that that put up in terms of patient care, and needing to be able to do a little bit of everything, I thought was really interesting for me.

"Also, just people in need and trying to help people through."

It's a constantly evolving field, he said.

"Just in the last 10 years, there's been a massive breakthrough with immunotherapy and lots of clinical trials going on.

"I think that's one of the really good things that the Orange guys have been able to set up: a big clinical trials unit.

"So hopefully that's something that we're going to be developing in Bathurst too: the ability to run clinical trials and help patients.

"Because that gives access to the newest, latest, greatest medications even before they get approved by the PBS [Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme] or things like that."

Dr Todd said his son - who has discovered the Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum and the whirlpool in the children's leisure pool at the Manning Aquatic Centre - has given Bathurst his seal of approval.

Bathurst Health Service's director of medical services, Dr Metelo, said having Dr Todd join the medical team "will help us to continue to provide high-quality, safe and timely care and treatment to patients facing cancer diagnoses in the region".

BATHURST Health Service general manager Jo Holden said Dr Todd will play an important role in the hospital's commitment to providing the best care possible.

"With one of Dr Todd's focus areas on breast cancers, it is a timely reminder for women who are aged over 50 to book a breast screen," she said.

"And all women should regularly check themselves for any changes and contact their GP if they have any concerns because early detection can save lives."

To book a breast screen appointment, call 13 20 50 or book online for a free breast screen at Bathurst (BreastScreen NSW).

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