It may have taken her 10 years but Dr Sarah Hyde completed her PhD and is now enjoying working as senior lecturer in rural health at the Three Rivers University Department of Rural Health in Orange.

Through her position she helps students train and get work placements in regional areas as well as helping employers prepare to take on students.

"I was working full time and doing [the PhD] part time, I had kids in the middle of it," Dr Hyde said.

Dr Hyde's sons are now aged 11, 9 and 3, and with her job covering a 24,000 square kilometre footprint and involving a lot of travel it has added pressure to family life.

However, her husband Peter Hyde, an electrical engineer, has his own business and is able to work from home.

Usually Dr Hyde is based at the Charles Sturt University campus and through her role she is helping her colleagues complete their PhDs, which are required in their employment contracts.

"Only one has a PhD, they are all clinicians... they've all got masters level qualifications," Dr Hyde said.

However, her main role is still helping students complete their placements, and not all students are from CSU.

Dr Hyde said said if students felt supported they were more likely to want to stay in the rural communities.

"We've had students come from Sydney, we had a student come here for three months for a placement at Headspace and they have offered him a job," she said.

Dr Hyde had her own experience relocating from Sydney to the country and has worked at the CSU campus in Orange since 2008.

Dr and Mr Hyde moved to the area 15 years ago so they could be closer to family in Forbes and Eugowra. She initially worked at the School of Rural Health at the Bloomfield campus where she was the program lead for the Bachelor of Clinical Science.

"I did take a career break and set up my own business so I could work more flexibly," Dr Hyde said.

Dr Forbes attended Forbes High School before attending the University of Newcastle and completed her Doctorate in Educational Psychology at Sydney University.

The family lives on five acres at Forest Reefs and Dr Hyde said her half-hour commute was a lot better than the one-and-a-half-hour commute she did in Sydney.