{"id":3363,"date":"2014-08-29T15:56:33","date_gmt":"2014-08-29T04:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test-blogs-monash-edu.pantheonsite.io\/rural-health\/?p=3363"},"modified":"2014-08-29T15:56:33","modified_gmt":"2014-08-29T04:56:33","slug":"gippsland-clinicians-showcase-careers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.monash.edu\/rural-health\/2014\/08\/29\/gippsland-clinicians-showcase-careers\/","title":{"rendered":"Gippsland clinicians showcase careers"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_3367\" style=\"width: 440px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3367\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3367\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.monash.edu\/rural-health\/files\/2014\/08\/LV-Info-on-medical-careers-2-4301.jpg\" alt=\"Informative: medical students George Tsihlis and harmee Kavr (left) with Associate Professor Joseph Tam and consultant physicianm Dr Megan Brown at the recent careers night.\" width=\"430\" height=\"300\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-3367\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Informative: medical students George Tsihlis and harmee Kavr (left) with Associate Professor Joseph Tam and consultant physicianm Dr Megan Brown at the recent careers night.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>A team of experienced physicians and specialists gave Gippsland-based medical students an insight into studying, training and working in regional areas at an engaging and informative evening recently.<\/p>\n<p>In a first for the region, 11 clinicians covering a diverse range of fields spoke to a packed auditorium at Latrobe Regional Hospital (LRH) in Traralgon last week. The third, fourth and fifth year medical students are studying medicine with the School of Rural Health Latrobe Valley &amp; West Gippsland<\/p>\n<p>The event was organised by the director of the local clinical teaching site, Associate Professor Joseph Tam, also a well-known local paediatrician.<\/p>\n<p>Associate Professor Tam said the careers night was in keeping with the School of Rural Health&#8217;s philosophy of vertical education and training for students. He praised senior medical staff who \u201coverwhelmingly\u201d agreed to help with advice on training requirements, pathways and working in the Gippsland region.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll speakers have a passion for their profession and acknowledge the importance of having these services available to regional and rural areas,\u201d he said. \u201cOur major regional hospitals and general practices are doing outstanding work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Associate Professor Tam hopes the information imparted by the doctors will \u201chelp and inspire\u201d students in selecting their field of practice.<!--more--><\/p>\n<h2>Speaking from local experience<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_3368\" style=\"width: 190px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3368\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3368\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.monash.edu\/rural-health\/files\/2014\/08\/LV-Info-on-medical-careers-1-1801.jpg\" alt=\"Thoracic surgeon Mr Cliff Choong (right) demonstrates some of his \u201ctools of trade\u201d to medical student Rohan Smith.\" width=\"180\" height=\"280\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-3368\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Thoracic surgeon Mr Cliff Choong (right) demonstrates some of his \u201ctools of trade\u201d to medical student Rohan Smith.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Speakers, who all practise at Gippsland hospitals and clinics, were:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Dr Amit Traipathi (Radiology)<\/li>\n<li>Mr Neil Jayasuriya (General Surgery)<\/li>\n<li>Dr Megan Brown (General Medicine)<\/li>\n<li>Drs Michael Kunze and Paul Brougham (General Practice)<\/li>\n<li>Dr Yaman Al-Azzawi (Emergency Medicine)<\/li>\n<li>Mr Cliff Choong (Thoracic Surgery)<\/li>\n<li>Assoc Prof Paul Lee (Psychiatry)<\/li>\n<li>Dr Rob Dawson (Anaesthetics)<\/li>\n<li>Dr Tam (Paediatrics)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Dr Brown is a former Monash student who spent a year at West Gippsland Hospital (WGH) in Warragul in 2008 and a year at LRH in 2009. She is on rural secondment at WGH as an Advanced Trainee in General Medicine which involves management of complex medical problems.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is a fantastic field; I love it,\u201d she told students. \u201cIt\u2019s intellectually stimulating and you never stop learning. If you are passionate about patients, then being a physician is great. You get to meet some of the most amazing people while helping patients struggling with complex medical diseases. It is a great privilege.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dr Brown said it took six years after internship to become a consultant physician and part of that training could be done in Gippsland. \u201cIn the long term, regional areas like Gippsland need good physicians \u2013 they can transform a community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>All speakers told students their work was \u201cfulfilling, very worthwhile and sometimes tiring\u201d however all \u201clove what they do\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>They encouraged students to work in regional areas where there were many opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>GPs, Michael Kunze (Trafalgar) and Paul Brougham (Traralgon), described themselves as \u201cdoctors who do everything\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTowns need GPs who can do obstetrics, anaesthesia, dermatology, psychiatry and more,\u201d Dr Kunze said. \u201cAnd regional centres are happy for you to blend in with their hospital settings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dr Brougham said there were great opportunities for extra training. \u201cYou can deliver a baby one day and the next, do palliative care. It\u2019s very fulfilling,\u201d he added. \u201cThe sense of community is terrific in rural areas. You walk along the street and people say \u2018hello\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As well as practising in their chosen fields, the speakers outlined opportunities to teach and train with regional hospitals like LRH having strong links to major metropolitan hospitals.<\/p>\n<p>Anaesthetist Dr Rob Dawson highlighted the importance of communication, professionalism, collaboration, scholarship, management\u00a0 and health advocacy while surgeon Mr Neil Jayasuriya said Australia had one of the best surgical training programs in the world.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou become a much more rounded person as you are tested in many ways,\u201d Mr Jayasuriya added. \u201cIt is not an easy road but there is light at the end of the tunnel and it\u2019s very rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou are exposed to a range of experiences and get to work with other great health professionals,\u201d Thoracic Surgeon Mr Choong added.<\/p>\n<p>Associate Prof Lee summed up: \u201cThere are not only great employment opportunities (in medicine) but this (Gippsland) is a great lifestyle choice.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A team of experienced physicians and specialists gave Gippsland-based medical students an insight into studying, training and working in regional areas at an engaging and informative evening recently. In a first for the region, 11 clinicians covering a diverse range of fields spoke to a packed auditorium at Latrobe Regional Hospital (LRH) in Traralgon last [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.monash.edu\/rural-health\/2014\/08\/29\/gippsland-clinicians-showcase-careers\/\"> Read More...<\/a>","protected":false},"author":656,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3394,2082],"tags":[3550],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.monash.edu\/rural-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3363"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.monash.edu\/rural-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.monash.edu\/rural-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.monash.edu\/rural-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/656"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.monash.edu\/rural-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3363"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.monash.edu\/rural-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3370,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.monash.edu\/rural-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3363\/revisions\/3370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.monash.edu\/rural-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.monash.edu\/rural-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.monash.edu\/rural-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}