On Tuesday, George Town Medical Centre GP Dr Tim Mooney AM reached a significant milestone after providing primary care to the residents of George Town for four decades.

The rural GP who started at the practice on February 1, 1982, worked alongside his wife Dr Louise Phillips for 25 years until she retired.

READ MORE: Call to address 'unsustainable' elective surgery backlog

Still working full time, Dr Mooney says despite his many years of service he had no intention of retiring any time soon, explaining he still has more to give.

"I still enjoy it and I think people seem to appreciate my work and I'm still pretty good at it," he said.

The only clinic in town, the practice is staffed by 12 GPs - including Dr Mooney's daughter - and provides 24-hour on-call services to the region.

He said working with his daughter at the practice and seeing her become a partner was one of the most rewarding aspects of his 40-year career.

"For me personally, being able to provide a service for the community for this amount of time and raise my family here to the extent that one of my daughters is now a doctor and a partner in the practice, that's very gratifying," he said.

READ MORE: Hired then fired: Tasmanian biosecurity workers lose jobs

He said being made a Member of the Order of Australia for "significant services to medicine" was also a highlight of his career.

Having lived and worked in George Town for most of his life, Dr Mooney knew the health challenges rural communities faced and said it was clear that recruiting and training GPs from remote areas was one way to address the GP shortage.

"Rural doctors, people who go into medicine from rural areas tend to go back to the rural areas," he said.

"I came back to my home, but the circumstances in the early '80s were, I knew that this was a good practice and I wanted to go into general practice, so I thought I'd give it a go and I'm still here."

The George Town doctor has dedicated most of his career to improving the quality of medical care to people in rural areas.

He was a founding member of the Rural Doctors Association Tasmania, before going on to be secretary and treasurer.

READ MORE: Repeat drug driver on suspended sentences sent to jail

Ensuring the community is cared for in the future continues to be a priority for Dr Mooney, who has trained more than 50 doctors during his time at the practice.

"We do a lot of teaching here, teaching doctors in training and international medical graduates who work with us to allow them to achieve fellowship in the Royal Australian College of General practitioners or the Australian College of rural and remote medicine," he said.

"We have medical students, often two or three at a time from the University of Tasmania and other universities."

Dr Mooney said while much in medicine has changed since he graduated from the University of Tasmania in 1979, the role of the GP has also changed, providing more holistic and complex care than when he began.

"When I started practice in 82, it was simpler in a way," he said.

"The general population was younger for a start, there were less medications available, and there were less interventions in medicine.

"Now it's more complex and really general practitioners are taking on a lot of the burden of specialist medical care."

READ MORE: Launceston housing market keeps pace with Hobart

Despite the challenges posed as a rural GP, in a state with an ageing population, Dr Mooney looks back on his 40 years fondly.

"It's been a very fulfilling practice, and very busy practice and very enjoyable practice," he said.

Andrew Chounding is The Examiner's Health Reporter, if you have a health-related story please email Andrew.chounding@examiner.com.au

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:

Follow us on Google News: The Examiner