What I tell patients about retirement – be like the Queen and don’t
When a patient asks what I think about them retiring, I usually say, like the Queen: “Don’t.” Even if they’re aged 79, I have been…
Dr Pam Rachootin
Dr Rachootin is a GP in Adelaide, SA.
Axing NPS MedicineWise’s funding is another nail in the GP coffin
In my vision of general practice, I see a near-complete coffin centre stage and a nail gun lying on the ground ready to finish it…
Why virus bashing has got to stop
Have you been swearing under your breath about the damned virus? Well, I am as guilty of this as you probably are, but it’s time…
Is it just me, or do GPs need a COVID-19 antivirals survival kit?
During the Easter break, I worked half a day to figure out how to refer a newly diagnosed COVID-19 patient with a haematological malignancy for…
Three patient deaths I won’t forget
I often recall patients who have died. In one way or another they have left their indelible marks. A woman who had long-standing diabetes with…
How did a patient’s shorts end up in the bin after flu vax?
It was the start of influenza vaccination season once again. I was seeing my first patient of the day, face-to-window-to-face, as previously reported in this…
Some patients are really helpful – others not so much
I hold a special tenderness for patients who try and help make my job easier. Their efforts can be so earnest, albeit sometimes misguided. A…
Some patients don’t need doctors, they need something else
I saw an elderly man using a walking frame on my early morning walk to the grocery shop. In the past we often shared a…
Could a dog (as well as a pharmacist) take on some GP work?
My mother, never too keen to do the laundry, was a believer in the sniff test. To decide whether it was time to throw…
Who needs telehealth – I’m doing consults through my practice window
Necessity is the mother of invention. And hasn’t COVID-19 been a mother in so many ways? I’ve always been intrigued by different models of doing…
