Dr Maimun Shikder has a passion for her patients and for teaching, including working with SWSPHN to provide input about CPD educational activities which will benefit GPs in our region. Dr Shikder has been working at Hill Top Surgery for the past year and is enjoying every minute of it.
How long have you been a GP and how long have you been practicing in this area?
I’ve been a GP since 2019, so three to four years. I was at Goulburn at first, and I’ve been here at Hilltop for a year now.
When and why did you decide to become a GP?
I had a lot of other thoughts before I became a GP.
When I was doing my training I was really interested in emergency medicine initially. I was also interested in women’s health as well and worked for a couple of months at the Royal Hospital for Women and did a Diploma for Women’s Health. I really enjoyed women’s health, but I found the lifestyle wasn’t what I wanted.
I’ve got two children under five, so it wasn’t working well for me.
I felt like I was only seeing women and I felt like I needed to see other people, different conditions.
That’s when I decided general practice would be suitable for me. And I’m glad I made that decision. I’ve enjoyed it so far and I’m looking forward to continuing in this specialty.
What do you love most about being a GP? What gives you the most satisfaction?
Seeing the results of your treatment which you don’t see in the hospital setting. It’s providing care and seeing the patient come back improved or when they haven’t improved, being able to figure out with the patient what’s wrong and what else we can do.
I enjoy providing holistic care. You see patients for one condition, then another condition and another condition so you know the whole person. There’s less anxiety for me as well because I know what’s happening with my patients.
In hospitals you tend to be very focused on one thing and once a patient has left hospital, you don’t know what’s happening with them.
What is the most important thing that you or your practice contributes to this area?
This practice is phenomenal.
It’s a lovely little community here, which I didn’t know before I started working here. There’s quite a lot of people out here so recently our practice increased its hours to include Sundays as well. It just fills up because they are all working people here, a lot of young people. They need a regular GP otherwise they’re going from medical centre to another.
That’s one of the most important things about this practice, we provide continuity of care.
There are some elderly people here as well. We also do home visits for some of the elderly around here.
All of these things are really beneficial to our community.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
Oh, I haven’t got much!
I like spending time with my kids.
I advocate for doctors’ mental health as part of the GP Synergy wellbeing committee. We look at what can be done to look after GPs’ wellbeing.
I also have an interest in education. When I’ve finalised my fellowship, I’m planning to do some teaching and I’m working with the PHN as well providing input about the sorts of CPD educational activities which will benefit GPs.
I’m still quite early in my career but I think in the long-term I’d like to do general practice part-time and teaching part-time.
Is there anything that you’d like to let your fellow primary carers now about you?
Most primary carers are doing an excellent job juggling their busy schedules.
I’d say I’m happy to be contacted by anyone. If someone ends up seeing one of my patients, on weekends or in other areas, I’d like to be kept informed about what’s happening with their care.
I would also love it if my colleague appreciated when I’m calling because I need something.
I guess I’d say, I’d like to stay connected, especially when you’re all working in a small community like this.
What do you love most about this community?
There is a wide variety of people which is refreshing because you’re seeing a little five-year-old now, then you’re seeing an 80-year-old at the next appointment, and then a pregnant woman. You see a little bit of everything which is satisfying as a general practitioner. The patients are really grateful which makes you feel good about your job as well and you enjoy it. I really like this community.
What advice do you give to your patients about maintaining good health?
One thing I find works for lots of health issues – exercise.
One of the most common things I say to patients is try to get about 30 minutes of walking in each day. Walk your dog, go for a walk with your partner, anything, just walk for 30 minutes a day. It’s beneficial for your heart, your brain, diabetes, blood pressure and mental health.
Just try to keep 30 minutes of time for yourself to go for a walk every day.