The Echuca Moama Family Medical Practice owner was recognised by the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine with the 2025 Victorian Rural Generalist of the Year award.
Dr Nesbitt graduated from UNSW in 1988, intending to become a rural general practitioner, and first practised in Wollongong.
He has been in Echuca-Moama for the past 30 years, seeing significant change in the medical industry in this time.
“When I first came to town 30 years ago, we didn’t have any specialists at all,” Dr Nesbitt said.
“Over the years, that’s changed, and now we’ve got lots of specialists, some that live in town and some that visit town.
“Even though we’ve got a lot of specialists here, we need the rural generalists to actually complement as the hospital gets bigger and busier.”
The rural generalist role is a growing medical profession, encompassing general practitioners with additional skills to support regional communities.
In Dr Nesbitt’s career, he has gained experience in obstetrics, general medicine, paediatrics and emergency medicine.
“I think we've got great value for the community being a rural generalist,” he said.
“What we do in the hospital complements what happens in primary care.
“I don't think you can separate what goes on in the community and what goes in the hospital because they’re all interrelated.”
A key contribution Dr Nesbitt has made to the Echuca-Moama community is the mentorship of junior doctors, particularly in the rural generalist pathway.
He has noticed a shift in junior doctors being drawn to this area, rather than only seeking specialisations.
“Up here we can show them that no, there is a pathway. Otherwise, you can do general practice, and you can have some special skills,” Dr Nesbitt said.
“You can do that in the hospital here, you can work overseas, you can go to remote areas.
“You can do lots of different things. You can have lots of diversity.”
Dr Nesbitt has done exactly this, applying his skills in remote Africa, a place he has returned to across his almost 40-year career.
“When I was a medical student, I spent two months in Tanzania and worked in a mission hospital,” he said.
“So after I had done enough training ... I worked in Zambia in a remote mission for two years, where I was the only doctor in a very large area.
“If I’ve taken a little bit of time off, I've gone back to Zambia three times to the same mission, and I spent some time in Malawi.”
Closer to home, Dr Nesbitt plays an important role at Echuca Regional Health, including as a visiting medical officer.
It is his commitment to improving the medical environment in Echuca-Moama that saw Dr Nesbitt recognised.
“When I found out that I’d won it, it’s actually inspired me,” he said.
“I feel that there are many people in this town that are just as deserving of this award.
“This is probably an opportunity for me to represent everyone and go forward and ... inspire the junior doctors and medical students.”
ERH chief medical officer Annemarie Newth highlighted Dr Nesbitt’s achievement.
“ERH congratulates Dr Peter Nesbitt on being awarded the 2025 Victorian Rural Generalist of the Year,” she said.
“We thank him for the work he does for ERH and our community, we are so fortunate he is part of our team.
“Peter is highly valued by ERH; particularly as a role model and for his dedication to teaching junior doctors in general practice, paediatrics and obstetrics, and general medicine.”
As the Victorian award recipient, Dr Nesbitt is vying for the National Rural Generalist of the Year award, to be announced at the Rural Medicine Australia conference in Perth later this month.
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