Dubbo GPs 'among best in world' for skin checks

"Know the skin you're in," Professor Richard Scolyer - Co-Medical Director, Melanoma Institute Australia, told the Daily Liberal.

"If you notice something that changes or you're concerned about it, go and see your GP."

He said Australian GPs' skills - including those in Dubbo - were comparable to the best specialists in the world when it came to checking skin for melanoma.

READ ALSO: Melanoma's psychological impacts: Dubbo raises $27k for Australia-first trial

"Because there's so much skin cancer in Australia, and we live in this beautiful country with an incredible climate and enjoy an outdoor lifestyle ... we're at high risk of getting melanoma and skin cancers," Dr Scolyer said.

"As a consequence of this, our GPs are absolutely fantastic at doing skin checks, identifying skin cancer and managing them. They're better than dermatologists in pretty much every country in the world."

Dr Scolyer acknowledged it was sometimes more difficult in regional areas than in cities to access healthcare, but assured Dubbo locals that GPs were the best place to begin.

"Australia is a big country, not everyone lives in the major cities. There are challenges to get access to healthcare in our regions and in rural Australia. I get that's an issue for people who live in these regions," he said.

Dubbo resident and school teacher, Sam Coyle, spent her twenties in and out of hospital for life-changing Stage III melanoma after being first diagnosed in 2010.

Ms Coyle's melanoma began with a mole on the back of her left calf. Back then, there was "nothing" in Dubbo in terms of treatment so she travelled to Sydney - tackling isolation on top of the toll on her mental wellbeing.

These days, she travels to have her skin checks in Sydney because her surgeon is based there, but she also has regular skin checks at her GP in Dubbo.

Ms Coyle participated in the Dubbo Melanoma March on Saturday, March 25, which raised over $27,000 for an Australia-first trial into the psychological effects of cancer recurring.

Dr Scolyer said the clinical trial aimed to provide supportive care to patients and increase "survivorship".

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"The clinical trial is for patients that have fear of recurrence. They're worried that's going to happen to them in the future. The trial is looking at an intervention of supportive care, and how it impacts them and how they feel about their melanoma care and wellbeing," he said.

The institute is also campaigning against the "glamourisation" of tanning and tanning lotions.

A Melanoma State of the Nation report from the institute found that without critical action being taken, by 2030 a further 14,000 Australians will die from melanoma, 205,000 will be diagnosed with the disease, and the economic cost to the nation will be $8.7 billion.

Dr Scolyer said the report recommended a "national targetted melanoma screening program" , however it "probably wouldn't be cost-effective" to roll that out across Australia and would likely be introduced in the areas that would "have the biggest impact".