The Rural Doctors Workforce Agency organised the meeting, with a focus on emergency management skills.
The agency’s chief executive, Lyn Poole, said many regional doctors felt as though they had two jobs, their general work and hospital emergency work.
She said the conference highlighted the importance of proper self-care after traumatic events.
“We’re very encouraging of doctors, particularly those who carry a large burden of the on-call rosters for the hospitals,” she said.
“So you know, the smaller towns, where there might just be one, two or three GPs sharing in that, to make sure that they have time off.”
She said it was also a chance for doctors to reconnect with their families and colleagues.
“We really encourage people to take some planned time off and to recharge the batteries and often families are the ones who pay the price of a GP working extremely hard, so opportunities for the family to hang together as well and recognise that,” she said.