‘They were scared I was going to be killed’: The Aussie doctor who read his own death notice
Dr Mohammed Mustafa’s medical mission to Gaza became so dangerous that the aid organisation that sent him prepared for the unthinkable — and drafted a…
Tag: Doctor stories
‘I left medicine, I stepped away, I became a comedian’: Adam Kay on the bad day that changed his life
Adam Kay is a former obstetric registrar who walked away from medicine after a “bad day at work”, one of those days that was so…
Why isn’t this relatively cheap treatment for major depression more widely available?
Recently, I spoke with AusDoc about my journey from psychiatry inpatient to medical student — via some electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). This period was an important…
Jimi Hendrix, jail and life as a ’70s doctor: AusDoc interviews Bob Brown
In September 1970, a 25-year-old Dr Bob Brown met a patient he would never forget. “It was around 8am, and he was brought up on a trolley…
Porn, lobster and a bag of faeces: The weird and wonderful items patients have brought me
Thinking back over my three-and-a-half decades of GP practice, I have been surprised by the diversity of things my patients have brought along to me. …
‘Am I kidding myself?’: Aussie doctor to move to Belgium and become a philosopher
Dr Ken Barns had a long-term plan to stop working as a doctor when he hit 50. It is finally happening, and he is ready…
‘Don’t let the bastards grind you down’: Dr Mukesh Haikerwal (quietly) retires from general practice
A week into retirement Dr Mukesh Haikerwal is making all the right noises. One of Australia’s best-known GPs, the irrepressible doctor is talking holidays, movies, more…
As a doctor, how would you feel going to ED, telling other doctors you planned to kill yourself and being sent away? Let me tell you
When we have an MI come through ED, they are given the gold-star treatment — because MIs will kill you. Never are you told, “Sorry,…
Dr Debra Graves on her husband’s dementia diagnosis: ‘It probably didn’t help that I was in active denial’
Dr Debra Graves and her husband Don were both devastated when he was diagnosed with dementia — but Don’s devastation was short-lived. “There was a…
‘We just want to visit the children’: These GPs want to retire but can’t
GP husband-and-wife duo Dr Diana Coote and Dr Clement Gordon have worked in the same small town for 36 years. Now in their 70s with…
