Doctors and functional disorders — how I escaped heartsink
There is a term in medicine that has always made me feel uncomfortable. It gets used less now, but you still hear it: heartsink —…
Tag: Doctor stories
‘Thank you, I’m a big fan of your work!’: A woman’s emotional reunion with the neonatologist who saved her life
Back in 1995 Dr Umesh Vaidya saved a life that had barely begun. He had been the neonatologist who resuscitated Freyja when she and her…
My first year of medical school was sudden death — an era of big egos and elitism
Recently, I was given a copy of a paper, published in the Australasian Annals of Medicine in November 1962, entitled ‘The Art of Medicine’. It…
‘It was emotionally difficult for them’: Emergency doctor treated by friends and colleagues after 10 metre fall
Dr Fraser Bliesner has experienced first hand the miraculous impact of a pain team after a shocking 10m fall onto concrete just weeks before he…
Sharing my personal history brought me closer to my patients — some boundaries are meant to be broken
In these troubled times, I feel a responsibility to increase awareness of history’s lessons and the role of the individual in fighting tyranny to create…
Dr Giulia Kitchin died of brain cancer before she could realise her dream — now, her husband has delivered on her legacy
GP Dr Giulia Kitchin was only part way through renovating a dilapidated cottage into a refuge for homeless women when she died of a brain…
I slapped my toddler when she bit me: It was a reflex response to pain but I was shattered
A recent AusDoc article generated much commentary about the disciplining of children and the role of physical punishment, after a GP was fined for spanking…
There was a medical emergency on my flight – I sat in my seat resisting the urge to play hero
It’s crack-of-dawn early, and I’m on a flight. Working swing ER shifts has left me exhausted, barely packed, and running on fumes. But hey, as…
How this oncologist became a better doctor after her own breast cancer diagnosis
Radiation oncologist Dr Catherine Sue Hwang used to encourage patients facing chemotherapy to shave their heads as one way to “regain control” of their treatments.…
When my mother died, I was half a world away with no chance to say goodbye
Unfortunately, there has been a glut of deaths and bereavement in my practice. I suppose, in sympathy, that got me missing my mum. × Welcome…
