Topic: Profile

Dr Richard Hanbury at Mittagong Medical Centre loves living and working in the Southern Highlands. He says being part of the community and part of his patients’ lives is very rewarding. 

Learn more about Dr Hanbury….

 

How long have you been a GP and how long have you been practising in Mittagong?

I’ve been a GP for 38 years and I’ve been at this practice in Mittagong for 38 years.

 

When/why did you decide you wanted to become a GP?

In medical school I remember reading a lot of Australian Family Physicians in the library. I thought how interesting the job was. I also wanted to work in the country. I considered being a farmer but that never eventuated! I thought becoming a GP would be a good chance to work in the country and to be in charge of my own business. As a GP you are part of the community and very much a part of people’s lives – it’s been quite special to be part of people’s lives, a real privilege.

 

What do you love most about being a GP/what part of the job gives you the most satisfaction?

I like being part of people’s lives and trying to make a difference. You can give people advice but they don’t always take it of course and you need to accept that. And maybe it’s not the right advice. We don’t always know best. You give people options and they have to decide.

 

What is the most important thing you/your practice contributes to this community?

We give holistic care, we look after all people and we have a sense of community. This has been the original practice in Mittagong for well over 100 years. All the doctors have been here for some time, we don’t change much. We’ve got generations of families who have always been to this practice. People are very loyal and really appreciate what we do for them.

 

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I like to walk. I walk every day, we’ve got a big garden at home, play tennis, involved a lot with church activities and we were travelling a lot before COVID-19 restrictions. I also like to catch up with friends.

 

Tell me about your ideal day…

I like to get up in the morning and go for a walk for half-an-hour. I’m at the hospital at 7.30am to see my patients and then back to the surgery at 8.30am. Coffee at 10 o’clock on the dot, a five-minute lunchbreak at 12pm and I’d like to be out of here by 6pm.

 

What do you love most about the Mittagong/Wingecarribee Shire?

I love where I work, I love the people I work with and my patients. I live a four-minute drive to work, we have a comfortable house and lovely garden, and it’s a four-minute drive to the hospital on the other side. We have four seasons in the Southern Highlands and the soil is very good for gardening. It’s only an hour and a quarter to the Belvoir Theatre at Surry Hills for example, or we can go down to the beach in under an hour. There’s also very good schools here in the Southern Highlands so I think we’re very fortunate. There’s also a lot of interesting people here too – people from all walks of life. Especially now with COVID, we’re lucky we don’t live in Sydney.

 

What advice do you give your patients about maintaining good health?

Regular exercise, don’t smoke, not too much alcohol, be socially engaged.

Dr Lai Leong models himself on the family doctor of his childhood, providing old-fashioned, solo general practice care for his patients. He’s served the Fairfield community for more than 40 years.

Find out what he loves so much about being a GP.

 

How long have you been a GP and how long have you been practising in the Fairfield LGA?

I’ve been in this area for a long, long time – approximately 44 years.

 

When/why did you decide you wanted to become a GP?

It just happened by chance. I didn’t choose to become a GP, I was picked to be a GP. I was born and studied in South Africa at the time of apartheid when, as Asians of Chinese origin, we were only allowed two places at medical school. I was doing a science degree but the first year group doing medicine were doing so badly that after my first year they came to our science class and chose the top lot. That’s how I got into medicine. So, that year instead of two Asians they allowed five Asians to study medicine. They allowed 20 students from Indian backgrounds but the rest had to be white.

I finished my internship in South Africa. It was a very good education and I’m very thankful to South Africa for that because I was at the University of the Witwatersrand, a university in Johannesburg which is well recognised all over the world. That’s the university that was running the famous Baragwanath Hospital, that serviced Soweto, the main black ghetto where the riots were happening to free South Africa from apartheid in the 1970s. A lot of my training was in Baragwanath Hospital and I was right amongst the riots at that time. They were very interesting times.

As soon as I finished my medical degree I came out to Australia, straight into the Fairfield area and I’ve been here ever since. It’s been a fantastic life here.

 

What do you love most about being a GP/what part of the job gives you the most satisfaction?

It is a very, very satisfying job. I’m so blessed to be in this position.

I’ve always fashioned myself on the general practitioner that used to look after my family back home – it’s an old-fashioned, solo general practice. I get to know all my patients and my patients treat me so well, in fact they treat me too well and I’m being fed every day! My Italian patients are very generous, my Vietnamese patients give me noodles every day and my Eastern European patients give me the most wonderful cakes. Now the Middle Eastern group who are in this area are introducing me to their culinary delights.

The best part of being a GP is being part of the family. I am part of their life and their family and it’s a wonderful thing to see people growing up, having their kids and their kids having kids. I’ve seen four generations of kids growing up. I’ve got my patients who have graduated in medicine who are now specialists, who are now lecturing me! It’s a wonderful, wonderful life.

Of course, there are always challenges in being a GP – you’ve got the business side of it and the academic side of it. I’ve always loved learning and with the invention of the internet it’s been so easy to learn new things. I’ve been able to see change – where things were all paper based, now they are all electronic based.

There are also the sad parts. I’ve seen my patients grow old and pass away and sometimes driving in you reflect or you sit at home and reflect on it.

But all and all it’s been happiness rather than sadness.

I can retire anytime now but I choose even at the time of COVID-19 to continue because I feel that I’m needed, my patients say I mustn’t leave and that’s a wonderful feeling. With me it’s a 24-hour, seven days a week commitment. The GPs from my generation did everything, we still do everything, so people will pass away in the middle of the night and the family will call us and we will be there at 2 o’clock in the morning to issue the certificate and to be there with the family because we’ve known them for so long.

I do it not because I have to but because I enjoy it, it’s not so much work, it’s my life.

 

What is the most important thing you/your practice contributes to this community?

Preventative medicine, being there for my patients and saving lives which is so rewarding and keeps us going in our field. It’s always fantastic when you are able to pick up something to keep a patient from something bad happening to them. That’s the biggest thing I can offer to my patients.

 

What do you like to do in your spare time?

The time that I do have, I’m very much into sport. Walking, jogging, cycling. I used to be a keen golfer until I injured myself. I used to play squash regularly with a group of doctors from this area and that was fantastic because there was a lot of mixing between the GPs and that formed a strong bond between us. A lot have retired. I’m one of the last of that group that is continuing. Just basically looking after myself and spending time with the grandchildren.

 

Tell me about your ideal day…

The ideal days and non-ideal days can often blur into one.

The ideal day would be a day where you walk in and things just go smoothly – appointments go smoothly … the electronics are working.

We all love those days when we can sit back and have a cup of tea and have a yarn but the most rewarding can be those days that are just haphazard and when night time comes and you reflect you think ‘yes, I have done well’.

The other day I walked in and there was a myocardial infarction going on and the next minute a police officer walked in because someone had passed away. It was a mess, everything was going haywire. When things settled down I thought ‘this was a good day because I was of service again to the community’. The myocardial infarction was well handled with a good result for the patient and the waiting room quickly settled down and everyone was appreciative.

In a way, sometimes the day that was most busy turns out to be one of the best days when you reflect on it.

 

What do you love most about Fairfield LGA?

It is such an interesting area, we have people from so many backgrounds, it’s so wonderful to see them do well. They come here absolutely traumatised from all different parts of the world and become wonderful citizens of Australia. It’s so nice to be part of Fairfield.

 

What advice do you give your patients about maintaining good health?

Number one – stay away from me as much as possible stay away from our tablets! But of course, when you need to come to us and take tablets you should.

It’s the simple things – exercise, eat well, get fresh air and sunshine, and a good sleep. Those are the things I advise them to do and when they do that, we get fantastic results. And, of course taking care of your mental health is important. Mental health is such a big issue with our immigrant population because they are under so much pressure.

Dr Olataga Alofivae-Doorbinnia from Powell Street Family Practice in Yagoona says good support is a key element to running a successful practice. This support has allowed her to provide comprehensive, long-term care for patients and to create a niche, caring for and improving the health outcomes of Pacific communities in the Bankstown LGA.

 

How long have you been a GP and how long have you been practising in Yagoona/Bankstown LGA? 

Talofa lava! I have been a GP in the Yagoona/Bankstown area since 1995. It was 26 years on 1 September 2020.

 

When/why did you decide you wanted to become a GP?  

I grew up in South Auckland, New Zealand, and came from a poor Samoan family financially, but a family that was rich in terms of spiritual, community and family values. Working hard and getting a good education was the goal in those days, in the mid-1980s. I was so lucky to graduate Auckland Medical School by 1990. I had no idea what I was going to do until I went on holiday to Sydney, Australia, and decided to work a few years as a hospital doctor at Westmead Hospital in the early 1990s. I had also met my future partner and slowly we worked together to build a family and future in Sydney. General practice was the correct choice for me due to the ease of training and after getting fellowship in 1995, my husband Kamal and I brought an existing solo practice in Yagoona which has worked well for us. We’ve developed a good general practice and have set up a good niche caring for Pacific communities. My message to migrant GPs is: you can do it, don’t give up, and most importantly, always have good backup. As long as you have good support and good ethics, you’ll do well.

 

What do you love most about being a GP/what part of the job gives you the most satisfaction?

General practice can be a daunting challenge for any new doctor starting to run your own business. I love the variety it has brought to my life. My husband – our practice manager – has supported the many roles I have had as a GP – clinical practitioner, teacher for medical students and GP registrars, GP researcher and examiner for our RACGP for many years. I’ve also loved learning how to run a small medical business – you have to learn many other skills not taught at medical school. I’ve loved the challenge, and with God’s grace we have been able to run a safe and viable general practice. It requires a lot teamwork and support by the PHN and RACGP, and work staying up-to-date with the latest medical knowledge and health standards.

 

What is the most important thing you/your practice contributes to this community?

Our practice has developed from a solo practice to a three-to-four doctor practice, including a GP registrar, registered nurse and good administration staff. We also have a pathology collection centre, visiting allied health and specialists, and a dedicated dental clinic. The practice has two buildings and we’re hoping to expand to the adjacent property for other clinical roles in the near future. We are very blessed as we build and create services in our community and have been fully accredited in general practice for many years.

We service our local community with all the usual GP services – immunisations, chronic care, nursing home care, women’s health – for our local patients. We have a passion for our Pacific communities and we have been involved in research with our local universities to improve health outcomes for new migrant groups such as our Pacific Island communities.

With the current COVID 19 pandemic we have changed the way we practise to improve infection control. We’re back to our old hospital days of living in our scrubs and we don’t see respiratory patients in our rooms. Anyone who has got a cough or other symptoms, we quickly triage. We are lucky that our practice has two buildings and a space in the middle where cars can come in under a carport so our patients with symptoms can be seen there. For example, the day after the cluster of cases was identified at Casula we had quite a few families coming in wanting to be tested. They were coming all the way from Casula. We don’t do a lot of testing but we’re doing enough to service not only our own patients but those that can’t get into other clinics. We are very grateful for the PHN for their help with some PPE to improve screening of our patients. During the pandemic, we’ve also helped to educate our Pacific communities and other at-risk groups about COVID-19 and we’ve offered telehealth to all our regular patients.

 

What do you like to do in your spare time? 

I always enjoy having time with my family, my husband and our two adult children – Leilani our daughter is now a medical resident doctor at Westmead Hospital and Jordan, her younger brother, works for Service NSW. We love going to dinner or attending a family event or catching up for a day out for some exercise. I love reading books and also enjoy attending my local church on a Sunday or just catching up with some friends and family over coffee or a meal.

 

Tell me about your ideal day…

A good clinical day is knowing what is going to happen – and being prepared for it. Making sure the medical supplies, computers and clinical staff are present. Making sure all the team are in good spirits and working together, and getting to the end of the day knowing you have improved the quality of life of your patients and your clinical team feel they have made a difference in their time with you and are happy to come back the next day. When I am on leave my ideal day is travelling to visit family or a well-earned holiday is a treat to rest and recover from work.

 

What do you love most about the Yagoona/Bankstown LGA?

We live and work the Yagoona/Bankstown LGA and our children have grown up in this community which is rich in a diversity of cultures. I have got to know many of the other health practitioners over the years in our area and developed good networks with other GPs and specialists and our local hospitals in our LGA. There is lots of work for all the GPs as our area expands with many multicultural populations and we hope to train good GPs for the future in our area.

 

What advice do you give your patients about good healthcare?

Good healthcare is achieved by developing a caring relationship with your patient over time. It involves the teamwork of your staff to organise recalls for your patients to come in to have their immunisations and follow up of results. It involves appropriate and timely advice when serious and life-threatening diagnosis occurs, and also when the GP can organise good services to our other allied health and specialist services as appropriate to bring about good health outcomes. Our patients enjoy our care as we will look after their families from birth to end of life.

Dr Susan Sunwoo from Ashford Avenue Family Practice at Milperra said developing long-term relationships with her patients and getting to know each person and their families was one of the joys of being a GP. 

 

How long have you been a GP and how long have you been practising in Milperra/Bankstown LGA?

I have been a GP for eight years. We have been practising in our current location in Milperra for five years since my husband and I opened our practice together.

 

When/why did you decide you wanted to become a GP?

The lifestyle and flexibility of being a GP appealed to me when I was trying to decide on a career path. I also couldn’t choose one specific area of medicine I wanted to work in – general practice covers all areas of medicine across all ages. 

 

What do you love most about being a GP/what part of the job gives you the most satisfaction?

I suspect that most GPs would state similarly, but I think one of the joys of being a GP is being able to develop long-term relationships with our patients and to get to know each person and their families. It is humbling to guide patients when they are most vulnerable, and to also be able to share life’s special moments.

 

What is the most important thing you/your practice contributes to this community?

We strive to bring good quality medicine to the local community. Being practice owners allows us the autonomy to steer the practice in the direction we want. We love being a part of the community in Milperra.

 

What do you like to do in your spare time?

If spare time is defined as a child-free moment, I love to go for a run by the beach and try to catch up on some non-medical reading.

 

Tell me about your ideal day…

Start with coffee and end with wine.

 

What do you love most about the Milperra/Bankstown LGA?

The local community and our patients!

 

What advice do you give your patients about maintaining good health?

Maintaining good mental health is an important part of self-care and I encourage patients to try and actively make time for activities they enjoy doing – it could be as simple as going for a walk or a cup of coffee with a friend.

Dr Nathan Cooney from Wintergarden Family Practice enjoys working in a traditional GP-style general practice where he can develop a long-term relationship with his patients. 

 

How long have you been a GP and how long have you been practising in Bowral/Wingecarribee? 

I’ve been a GP for 13 years and I’ve been practising in Bowral since midway through 2011 – so nine years.

 

When/why did you decide you wanted to become a GP? 

When I was a kid I liked the idea of being a doctor. My background is Greek and once my Greek grandparents realised I was bright I had to become a doctor!

Then, when I was at university doing problem-based learning – where you basically train as a GP – I realised I really liked the idea of being able to help anyone, rather than just having a particular specialty. I considered paediatrics because I like kids and I also liked surgery, and I still love doing bits and pieces of surgery in the GP clinic. I was a bit idealistic, I liked the idea of being able to help anyone who asked for it.

 

What do you love most about being a GP/what part of the job gives you the most satisfaction?

Definitely having a long-term relationship with people. I love working in a practice that really values the relationship between doctor and patient. If patients want to see the same doctor, then that’s fine, they’re not pushed on to anyone else. It’s having that traditional style GP-model where you see the person you know that I really enjoy.

 

What is the most important thing you/your practice contributes to this community? 

It’s a cradle to grave practice. It’s called Wintergarden Family Practice. When I took it over it was called Wintergarden Medical Centre and I changed the name for that reason. The community needs a practice where they feel they are well looked after and cared for by reception staff and doctors who know them. I don’t think you get that sort of rapport in a clinic where you’re seen as a one-off.

 

What do you like to do in your spare time? 

I do a little bit of bush regeneration, quite a bit yoga, meditation and Buddist philosophy. I don’t mind watching sport, including a bit of rugby.

 

Tell me about your ideal day…

An ideal day would include having time to engage with my children and my wife. My girls are seven and nine years old so having an opportunity to go for a bike ride with them, help them with homework, read stories, play board games, that would be an ideal day.

 

What do you love most about Bowral/Wingecarribee?

I was born and bred in Sydney but GP registrar training in the country for six months was compulsory. I was a GP registrar in Orange and I loved being in a semi-rural setting. I extended my stay in Orange and stayed there for two-and-a-half years. I met my wife in Orange and she also loved the country. Her parents live down here in Wingecarribee so we thought it might be a good fit for us and for bringing up family. It’s nice to be in a rural setting where things seem to be more convenient, easy going and it’s a bit more relaxed lifestyle. Although with work it doesn’t always work out like that!

 

What advice do you give your patients about maintaining good health?

I like the lifestyle medicine approach. I’m a member of the Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine so I’m big on talking about nutrition, healthy habits, exercise, relaxation techniques and reducing stress levels – a holistic look at people’s emotional and physical health, sometimes delving into their spiritual issues. That’s something that’s come up with coronavirus lately, talking about death. Health is not just a physical prescription, most of the time lifestyle changes and considerations are much more important.

Dr Dong Hua’s Kenyon St Medical Centre at Fairfield is among four general practices in South Western Sydney selected to run the Commonwealth-funded GP-led respiratory clinics. Dr Hua says it’s a significant challenge but he’s optimistic about defeating the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

How long have you been a GP and how long have you been practising in Fairfield? 

I have been a GP for 15 years (including registrar training) and have been practising in Fairfield since 2008.

 

When/why did you decide you wanted to become a GP?

I decided that I wanted to become a GP during internship having realised that the best way to obtain continuity of care of patients is to become the primary health provider.

 

What do you love most about being a GP/what part of the job gives you the most satisfaction?

I love GP work because of its diversity of presentations and it allows me to pursue some of my special interests, with one being medical acupuncture. The greatest satisfaction I get is when patients report a better quality of life, whether its placebo or not, particularly when traditional treatments have failed.

 

What is the most important thing you/your practice contributes to this community? 

My practice has been important in providing a multidisplinary approach in enhancing patients’ health. This has been achieved by the talented and hardworking allied health team at Kenyon St Medical Centre at Fairfield. We cater for everyone and more recently our staff has been involved with NDIS patients. We have been rewarded with the local business award for most outstanding health services category last year and this year we made it to the finals of Australian small business champion awards. An amazing feat for which I am proud of each of my staff for their significant contributions. More recently, we have been selected to open respiratory/COVID-19 clinics in Fairfield and Campbelltown. A significant challenge but I am optimistic we as a country can win this war against the pandemic.

 

What do you like to do in your spare time? 

I rarely have spare time these days but I do love the spend it with my wife and two children.

 

Tell me about your ideal day…

My ideal day is sitting in front of TV and watching the Parramatta Eels win.

 

What do you love most about Fairfield?

Fairfield is culturally diverse and despite being a low socioeconomic area, a lot of the people who are immigrants (myself included) are grateful for having a chance at a better life.

 

What advice do you give your patients about maintaining good health?

Be active, stay safe and remember to practice social distancing (in this pandemic)!

Dr Grace Torres from Park Central Family Practice at Campbelltown believes getting to know her patients holistically helps ensure she can give them and their families a personalised approach to healthcare.

 

How long have you been a GP and how long have you been practising in Campbelltown?

I’ve been in general practice for 20 years. All of it in the Macarthur area, including Elderslie and the Camden area. I’ve concentrated on Campbelltown for the past 17 years.

 

When/why did you decide you wanted to become a GP?

I wanted to do primary care since medical school. I grew up in a healthcare system in the Philippines wherein the initial contact by patients is through a specialist – “any doctor closest to home and whoever your family knows”.  So, you may end up seeing a dermatolgist for a child’s cough and colds. Being a specialist is also regarded as superior to general practice, so everyone ended up training to a specialty. When I moved to Australia, I was lucky enough to do hospital rotations in all the specialties to help me decide the pathway I really wanted to take and hopefully pursue for the rest of my life. I was in fact interested in most of them but I realised that general practice provided the most comprehensive approach to patient care. The training was also suitable for young families to achieve a balanced work and home life.    

 

What do you love most about being a GP/what part of the job gives you the most satisfaction?

Knowing the patient holistically, attending to their physical symptoms, correlating with their mental state, psychosocial issues and past experiences allow us to manage each patient with a very personal approach. Seeing a patient longitudinally, following up to assess their progress, being aware of their day-to-day function, knowing their cultural background and preferences allow you to tailor your management to achieve improved compliance and therefore optimal outcome. What gives me the most satisfaction is the feedback from patients, knowing that I’ve helped them, from a simple understanding of what’s going on in their body, to how our routines start to cause some organs to malfunction and manifest as physical symptoms and how they are empowered to take control of the situation and therefore improve health and wellbeing. 

 

What is the most important thing you/your practice contributes to this community?

I believe the cycle of good physical health equates to healthy mind which equates to feeling happy, content and peaceful. Emotions can present either because patients are in a crisis or is least prioritised because there is a lot of deeply rooted conversations to be had in order to manage.  It is usually easier for both the patients and the GP to present and deal with physical symptoms. The management of most physical symptoms come down to a good sleep, a healthy balanced diet and  regular exercise. So, I put a big effort into emphasising these three foundations to optimise health. I talk a lot about sleep hygiene, healthy eating and trying to set a good example by encouraging patients to make exercise fun and enjoyable. I’ve started a group of patients to attend Campbelltown Parkrun and make an effort for myself to turn up regularly on Saturday mornings at 7am for a 5km free, council-run group walk/run. We also participate in other challenge walks in the area to emphasise awareness of physical activity in a social setting that is fun and enjoyable. The practice has also started a cycling team which involves other doctors, practice manager and any patient who is interested. We participate every six months in two major charity bike rides to raise funds for Lifeline in March (The Bobbin Head Cycle) and Multiple Sclerosis (Sydney to Gong) in November every year.

 

What do you like to do in your spare time?

There’s no more time left ! I work Monday to Saturday, and then there’s fitness classes after work  before going home (at least 30 minutes of functional training, cycling, running or swimming). The brain and the body work well with a good balance of work, physical activity, proper nutrition and enough sleep. 

 

Tell me about your ideal day…

A full list of patients with a good mix of chronic disease and acutely sick patients, a lunch break is essential but we sometimes can miss it. We also use our breaks for the all the doctors in the practice to debrief: to share our cases and opinions on management or alternative treatments and hopefully, get to leave on time to get to a gym class and then home for dinner and family time.

 

What do you love most about Campbelltown?

Campbelltown is an area with high medical needs for both complex cases and acute illnesses with highly variable cultural backgrounds. Patients are really in need of physical care – even the basics of health education focusing on nutrition, physical activity and self-care. There is a lot of opportunity for lifestyle modification counselling. I’ve been in the area long enough to look after three generations of families and be aware of  what chronic diseases exist in the family and how I can help them prevent or delay developing it. Now, when I see the younger patients from families I know, I say ‘I want to help you now because I’ve told grandma that if she’d been helped 20 years ago she would not be in the bad state she is in now’.

 

What advice do you give your patients about maintaining good health?

I have a different approach for each patient, depending on what stage in life they’re in. Sleep is always very important so I can start talking about sleep patterns from babies through to teens, young adults, young families, middle life up to elderly. If there’s going to be some lifestyle modification needed, I usually emphasise that optimal sleep will improve their energy levels during the day and feel motivated for whatever lifestyle change they intend to achieve. Once we’ve achieved a reasonable decent sleeping pattern, some patients might want to improve their diet next or some would actually prefer to increase their physical activity. As mentioned earlier, it depends on the individual’s routine and preference, we negotiate what they think is achievable. Once they feel that they’ve been listened to, they feel empowered to manage their routines to achieve their goals in health. I always emphasise the basics: sleep, nutrition and physical activity and aim for higher goals. Getting help and knowing when and how to seek help during their journey is also important.    

The broadness of general practice attracted Dr Pauline Hector to the profession. The satisfaction of providing stable, long-term care to her patients at Queen Street General Practice, and endless opportunities to learn, has kept her there. 

 

 

How long have you been a GP and how long have you been practising in the Campbelltown LGA?

I’ve been practising in Campbelltown for about 29 years, and as a GP for about 35 years.

 

When/why did you decide you wanted to become a GP?

I wasn’t one of those people that was always driven to do medicine but I did well at school and had the opportunity to do medicine. Once I’d graduated, I worked out pretty quickly that I wanted to do general practice. The broadness of it appealed to me, rather than focusing in on any one particular specialty.

 

What do you love most about being a GP/what part of the job gives you the most satisfaction?

On a personal level, it’s the breadth of things that you see, that you are exposed to and have to think about – I find that satisfying. Every day there’s something new to learn. I enjoy the challenge of keeping up and learning new things all the time. I also enjoy giving patients continuity of care, being somebody they know they can continue to call on for whatever problem they might have. You are their first port of call – you’re the one that they seek help from first and as you get more experience, you get much better at directing people to who they need to see if you can’t help with their problems. I enjoy the whole cradle to grave side of things, seeing people through different stages of their lives. When you’ve been a GP for a long time you are seeing three and four generations and that’s very satisfying too.

 

What is the most important thing you/your practice contributes to this community?

It’s about providing quality care and confidence for people. I had my own practice for a long time and I moved into this practice coming up to five years ago. This practice has a very similar ethos to what I had in my own practice – it’s all about seeing the patient in their community, in their culture and providing them with overall care. It’s not just about looking at their medical issues but making sure that what we’re doing fits in with their place in the world. That’s our biggest service to the community. I also have a particular interest in women’s health and mental health. I think the community in general benefits from people receiving holistic care with an emphasis on prevention and well thought out management plans.

 

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I like being outside, that could be swimming, going to the beach, walking locally or in the bush. I do as much of that as I possibly can in my spare time. Hanging out with friends and family and doing grandparent things with my granddaughter are also highlights of my spare time. One of my other great pleasures is going to the cinema to see all sorts of movies from the mainstream to the oddball to documentaries, I love getting lost in a story for a couple of hours.

 

Tell me about your ideal day…

My ideal day would start with a swim. An ideal work day is a day where I’m challenged but not too much! It’s an interesting day that’s not overwhelmed by paperwork or red tape or a greater than usual load of those heartsink patients we all have. A day where you can have a little bit of time to share a laugh with your colleagues is a good day, and an ideal day finishes with seeing my family and enjoying a nice cup of tea.

 

What do you love most about Campbelltown?

For me partly it’s a sense of feeling at home here even though I’m not a Campbelltown native. I grew up in the western suburbs of Newcastle in a very working class area in a single parent household which I feel helps me relate to the various struggles that a lot of our local families are faced with. The demographics of Campbelltown these days is very broad as well and that’s good from a medical point of view because you see a whole range of conditions. I think that what has kept me here is the long-term relationships with patients. Also, when you’ve been in the one area for a long time you start off seeing lots of babies and lots of kids but then you see those kids grow up and you move more into caring for elderly people. Professionally, it’s very rewarding. Interestingly I have recently discovered from my aunt who is interested in family history that when my father’s family first immigrated from England in the 1840s they settled in Campbelltown and my great great grandfather was born here in 1859. Maybe that’s why I feel so at home here.

 

What advice do you give your patients about maintaining good health?

Lots!

I try really hard to get people to look at their lifestyle and I try to impress on people the importance of activity, whether it’s physical or mental activity. I also try to help them to see the positives, especially when I’m treating patients with mental health concerns. In my own life when I’ve had major setbacks, I have always found looking for small positives a very helpful strategy. I think even when we are at our lowest if we can find some small pleasure to enjoy we can build from there. I try to get people to go outside and get some sunlight and hear the birds singing and occasionally I might throw in a quote from the Dalai Lama!