Meet Dr Katrina Starmer our Photo Competition Winner!

Our Annual Report Photo Competition has garnered so many quality images from around our beautiful state.

It was again a very tough decision, but we are excited to announce that Dr Katrina Starmer of Cairns has won this year's competition and her stunning photo graces the Health Workforce Queensland 2022-2023 Annual Report Cover.​

Dr Starmer is a rural generalist for the Royal Flying Doctors Service (RFDS) in Cairns, as well as an emergency specialist in Cairns Hospital. She has a rural background and her health care journey has taken her all around Queensland providing her with the opportunity to explore far and wide. Being a keen amateur photographer, Dr Starmer has quite a selection of breathtaking images from her travels and she shares these with us here, and tells us a little about her incredible experiences.

"I do both remote clinics in Chillagoe each fortnight, and statewide telehealth coordination as well as working in Cairns ED.

I come from an extended family of cane farmers but spent my childhood in Townsville. Doing my ACRRM fellowship after becoming a FACEM has allowed me to get my ‘rural fix’ and also feel like I can better understand the needs of people who live in rural and remote Queensland.

It was during a placement in Babinda that I took the photo of the train tracks through the cane fields (main image above). These are cane train tracks for the ‘loco’, carrying cane to the sugar mill. I like to run for exercise, and I try and get out for a short run in the evenings with my on-call phone in my pocket. The sunset inspired me to take this pic with my very sweaty iPhone 13.

Similarly, the photo of the shark was taken while I was doing an evening walk along the beach on Mer (Murray) Island in the Torres Strait. I was doing a clinic up there as part of a stint on Thursday Island. The shark literally beached itself in front of me, trying to feed on small fish. It was at least 2m long and very hungry, but I thankfully managed to not become dessert.

I enjoy taking photos of the adventures we have had while living and working in the bush and am honoured that my photo has been selected by Health Workforce Queensland."

Chillagoe - "Children climb the boughs of a paperbark on the Walsh River in Chillagoe."

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Mer (Murray) Island (left) - "It was an incredible moment when a shark swam up onto the beach while feeding on bait fish on Mer Island."
Birdie Creek, Cape York (right) - "This photo shows the wild beauty of Birdie Creek. A skull hangs on a gnarled tree while a little girl swimming lets the cool water wash the day away." Photo credit - Lilah Starmer.

Winton - "Winton is the birthplace of Qantas and a very popular Western Queensland destination."​

Richmond - "It’s quite a feat riding a push bike across remote Queensland!"​

Cairns - "The tropical beauty of Cairns makes it a very attractive regional location to live and work."

The Torres Strait - "The islands of the Torres strait are mysterious and beautiful with great cultural significance."

Cairns (left) - "A rare cannonball tree."
Atherton Tablelands (right) - "The amazing Mt Quincan Crater on the tablelands."

Karumba, Gulf of Carpentaria - "The children were so excited to see their first sunset over the ocean after driving two weeks to get to Karumba on the western cape."