The latest addition to the Hunter Medical Centre team, along with nurses Taylah Vicary and Rebecca Zaffino, boasts an impressive background that is sure to delight patients in Denman and Merriwa.

And, due to his apt arrival in the Upper Hunter, the practices in both towns will open full-time from February 6.

“I’m pleased we’ve eventually got a new GP,” Dr Noman Jawaad said.

“He is a young, energetic and very competent, fully-qualified doctor.

“It’s been a year since Dr Cho left us – and both practices have suffered.

“I was trying to cover Denman and Merriwa [in that time], so it’s a great relief for us and the local residents to have Dr Sadashivappa on board.”

The genial physician admits a medical career was “in his blood”.

“I come from a family of doctors,” Dr Sadashivappa said.

“My dad was a surgeon and my sister is a gynaecologist.

“Even my brother-in-law is a doctor.

“I trained in India and had a general practice [there], too.

“But, I moved to Australia and, recently, gained four years of experience in the emergency department.”

Dr Sadashivappa said the chance to work in a rural area drew him to the Upper Hunter.

“So many country towns don’t have doctors, which surprised me,” he explained.

“I arrived just before Christmas and fell in love with the place immediately.

“To be honest, Denman resembles my home.

“Noman was very supportive and the staff’s been great.

“Everywhere I go, people say ‘hello’ – everyone’s so friendly.

“I feel very comfortable [here] and plan to stick around for a while.

“Noman and I are hoping to build on the practice – and we can now add pap smears and child immunisation to our list of services.

“Patient safety and welfare is paramount in a rural region.”