Humans in Health: Recent Episodes
Brooke Bullock & Jessica Weatherall
This podcasts aims to showcase interesting and inspiring people in the world of health, as a way of sharing wisdom, offering insight and fostering connection.
Christian Nduwimana was born in Burundi Africa, which is the poorest country in the world.
Growing up in a nation ravaged by civil wars, Christian learned firsthand the concept of UBUNTU, which means "I am because you are." After witnessing and speaking out against horrific scenes of extrajudicial killings, Christian became a target of the Burundian regime and was forced to flee. He spent several years in a refugee camp in Uganda. In 2018, Christian was granted a humanitarian visa to come to Australia.
Since being in Australia, Christian completed a Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences (Hons), and worked as a Research Assistant at the University of Queensland
Having experienced the hardships and trauma associated with displacement and difficult living conditions, Christian recognized the urgent need for mental health support among refugee populations. This led him to co-found the Mental Health Taskforce to address the devastating effects of untreated mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder, on individuals and their families.
We loved havıng Chrıstıan on the podcast and finished the conversation feelıng ınspıred and amazed at yet another Human ın Health.
Dr Stephen Kodovaru is an Orthopaedic Surgeon currently completing an Orthopaedic fellowship at Queensland Childrens Hospital in Brisbane, Australia. Stephen is from the Solomon Islands and was the first graduate of the Pacific Islands Orthopaedic Association training program, which he finished in 2018.
Stephen was introduced to us as "An orthopaedic surgeon from the Solomon Islands and outstanding human" and after meeting Stephen, we'd also add: calm, gentle and humble, among other things.
Back in the Solomon Islands, Stephen works out of the Orthopaedic Department, National Referral Hospital in Honiara and has done since 2010 after completing his Bachelor of Medicine at the Fiji school of Medicine. We loved hearing about Stephen's experiences living and working in the Solomon Islands, his training as an Orthopod and his time in Australia where things are very different to back home. Stephen is married with 3 daughters and a son and shared with us the importance of family.
We loved meeting Stephen and hope you do too!
Dr Tiba Alhilal is an International Medical Graduate from Iraq currently living in Australia and searching for a role as a Doctor.
Tiba bravely shred her journey so far: since fleeing Iraq when ISIS attacked her city in 2014, finishing her Internship in Baghdad, living and working in Amman and Jordan for 6 years and then moving to Australia.
Tiba shared her passion for Medicine, and frustrations faced as an International Medical Graduate trying to secure a job in Australia. She is bright, energetic and magnetic and it was a pleasure to hear her story.
Professor Trent Twomey is the National President of The Pharmacy Guild of Australia and shared with us his experiences navigating what have been some of the most challenging years in the history of community pharmacy.
We loved hearing about Trent's love of far north Queensland, and how his professional and personal supports aid his unwavering resilience. Trent passionately shared his mission to advocate for co-designed reform and his pride for the culture within the Pharmacy Guild of Australia.
What a pleasure it was to hear from Trent: who wholeheartedly wears his heart on his sleeve and whose kids allow his ego to remain in check.
Thank goodness for a shared diary..
What a pleasure to interview Xander Van Der Poll. Xander is a South African born, 24 year old medical student studying at Bristol University in the UK. In May 2018, Xander suffered a life-changing injury, leaving him paralysed from his waist down and reliant on a wheelchair for mobility. Despite his new challenges, he has continued with his career in medicine, having recently completed a placement in the Emergency Department at Gold Coast University Hospital.
Xander is also a keen athlete, currently training on the GB sprint canoe paralympic pathway. Outside of his work life, Xander and his fiancé love adventure and have just got back from a three-month trip around South Africa and Australia.
You can find out more about their journey on Instagram on @ourchaoticadventure
It was a pleasure to have Dr Bec Jenkinson on the podcast who is a maternity consumer advocate and researcher. After more than 10 years of volunteer work as a maternity consumer rep, Bec completed a PhD exploring refusal of recommended maternity care. She went on to co-lead the development of Queensland Health’s Guideline for partnering with the woman who declines recommended maternity care.
Bec shared with us her personal journey as a consumer of obstetric and midwifery care: an experience many of our listeners will resonate with in some way, shape or form. We also heard of Bec's journey to find where she fits which has found her currently in her first "real research job" as a Qualitative Research Fellow with the Australian Women and Girls Health Research Centre at UQ. Bec provides clarity around how we can best have consumers as part of our conversations: an important viewpoint we must always seek to hear.
Dr Gerben Keijzers is adjunct Professor of Emergency Medicine. His research revolves around topics relevant to clinical practice in critical care, with special interest in sepsis, appropriateness of antibiotic use and respiratory medicine.
We loved chatting with Gerben about what makes him so curious and how this has led to a research career testing how less can be more. Gerben explains what is behind his perceived direct feedback style.
Importantly, we also heard what makes Gerben tick, such as his love of his dogs and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and Gerben explains how being an "Emergency Medicine" Doctor is the last thing he would introduce himself as.
An inspiring, curious and honest conversation, we hope you enjoy.
Books mentioned:
- Drive by Dan Pink
- Bounce by Aaron Fruh
- The Discovery of Heaven by Harry Mulisch
Professor Ian Coombes and Doctor Judith Coombes are a Pharmacist Dream team from Brisbane, Queensland.
With professional career’s full of leadership, education and research and Personal lives filled to the brim with family, friends and adventure, it is Ian and Judith's long ties with Sri Lanka that we loved hearing about during this conversation.
Judith and Ian have worked tirelessly (and joyfully) over the last 15 years to build capacity within the Sri Lankan health care system: through education and research. These experiences are a true reflection on their passion for Pharmacy and Life. It's impossible not to be inspired and uplifted by their approach to moving their family to Sri Lanka whilst on long service leave and all the places that initial visit has taken them over the years.
We hope you enjoy hearing their story.
Dr Kendall Sharpe is a Dermatologist on the Gold Coast, having just completed her training.
Kendall is an accomplished Doctor, Researcher, Educator and Clinician. She is passionate about environmental sustainability, holistic medicine, ethical and evidence based skin care and procedures.
We loved hearing Kendall's views on what drew her to Dermatology, just how long the journey is to where she is today and what the sacrifices looked like along the way. We also gained some insight into Kendall's love of art and furniture and how this has translated into 1. curated information used in her patient consults and 2. some excess chairs.
Kendall shared insights into the influence of Social Media (and the rise of the Celebrity Doctor) on Dermatology and how this translates to her own practice.
We finally pinned her down and she was worth the wait.
James Fletcher is an exercise physiologist, physiotherapist and breathing specialist and is the founder of businesses called Fletcher Techniques and Safe and Healthy. We loved the roller coaster ride that was our conversation with James as we unpacked his journey thus far.
James has worked with some of the planet's leading athletes across a multitude of sports in helping them bring science to their breath and boost performance through respiratory muscle training. James spent years working with elite circus performers in the Cirque Du Soleil, has worked with Australian 100m freestyle record holder and
Olympian Cam McEvoy, other Olympic swimmers including James Roberts and Madi Wilson and big wave surfers such as Kai Lenny.
We loved hearing about how James got to this unique place as a physiotherapist and allied health practitioner and that the small wins with individual patients are in fact the big wins for James.
James also shared his own personal experience after being stabbed and how even in this traumatic experience he was able to lean into his unique set of skills and knowledge both in the moments following the event and in his longer term recovery.
Books mentioned:A confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Cured by Jeffrey Rediger
You can find James at:
safeandhealthy.com.au
www.fletchertechniques.com
Dimity Dornan AO is a Speech Pathologist, Author, Businesswoman and the 2003 Australian of the Year for Queensland.
We loved hearing from Dimity about her experience as the first speech pathology graduate at the University of Queensland and the first speech pathologist to work at the Royal Brisbane Hospital.
What an incredible journey Dimity has had through 30 years of service as the founder of the Hear and Say Centre for Deaf Children. Her legacy: enabling thousands of deaf children to hear and speak. We learnt about Dimity's next chapter, founding Bionics Queensland (BioniQ) which was established to promote the development of the human bionic industry in Queensland and the Human Bionics Interface.
Importantly, Dimity shares her love of polishing off the last drop of champagne along with so many pearls of wisdom as she has balanced her incredible career alongside being a partner, Mum and now Grandmother.
Links/Books etc
www. bionicsqueensland.com.au
Book: The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett
Dr Brooke Bullock, our podcast co-host and everyday superwoman has been nominated for a business award so it felt like the perfect time for me to interview her about what exactly makes her tick so damn productively.
Brooke is an advanced pharmacist, a dual business owner, has completed a PhD, is a wonderful mum to two little girls and even manages to exude some contradictory hippie vibes on her weekends with her family, traveling in their caravan.
We talk about all these things and how she manages (mostly) to fit them in each day (and mostly with laser focus). She also tells us about the award she is up for - for her medical interview coaching business and shares her hottest interview prepping tip. Link to vote for her is in the podcast show notes below. Look, we are all friends here, so please vote.
2022 AusMumpreneur People's Choice Awards: Vote for Brooke in Category 9:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AUSMUM22
In this episode, we chat with Dr Rachel Martin who is a Senior Registrar working in the Intensive Care Unit at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.
We loved hearing about Rachel’s impressive career and her love of working in Intensive Care. Rachel also shared with us her harrowing experience in 2012 when her now-husband Curtis McGrath lost both his legs whilst serving as an engineer with the Australian Army in Afghanistan in 2012.
In the moments after the accident, incredibly both Rachel and Curtis were independently thinking about the para-olympic games and at the 2020 Tokyo Para-olympic Games, Curtis made history by becoming the first para-canoe athlete to win two gold medals in his chosen sport of canoeing/kayaking.
Rachel shared with us her own learnings and reflections from being a med student caring for her injured partner, how they juggle their professional careers and how Curtis once reacted to a curious kid on a plane asking him if he was a transformer after seeing his prosthesis.
Such a down to earth account of a huge life event that has now shaped Curtis and Rachel's future.
Lisa Hill is a Senior Pharmacist working at Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service.
We loved chatting with Lisa as she shared her unique story about her experience navigating her older brother Tim's metastatic bowel cancer diagnosis and passing in 2015. Throughout this experience, both Lisa and her brother Tim had a profound reconnection with their Christian faith which is now an extremely important part of who Lisa is.
We talk about Lisa's passion for her work, winning overseas trips, assumptions about Christianity and "Why the whole Jesus thing is a thing" (in Lisa's words).
Book mentioned: The Reason for God, by Tim Keller
Season 2 is here and we are setting off with a bang with the formidable Dr Ben Bravery.
At the age of 28, Ben woke from a colonoscopy to be told he had stage 3 colorectal cancer. At that time Ben was living and working as a zoologist in China having met his now wife only 5 months prior.
Ben's experience as a Cancer patient was confronting and he bravely shared with us some extremely vulnerable moments during his eighteen months of treatment, including aggressive chemotherapy. Importantly, this experience became the driver for Ben to study Medicine and become a Doctor.
Ben shared his unique experience on both sides of the healthcare system and his thoughts on what doctors, patients and their families need to do to ensure that the medical system puts the patient at the
very heart of healthcare every day. We loved hearing about Ben's love story: where his partner was thrust after 5 short months of dating into being ben's carer, financial support and counsellor. Now, Ben and Sana have started a family and a share unparalleled perspective on life but also, our conversation was perfectly timed with the release of Ben’s memoir, The Patient Doctor.
This conversation is full of honesty, vulnerability, gratitude and fitting for his surname, BRAVERY.
https://www.benbravery.com/
What a privilege it was to speak with 2020 Australian of the Year, Dr James Muecke. James is an Australian ophthalmologist working in Adelaide, South Australia whose life’s work has been to treat and prevent Blindness with a strong focus on improving outcomes in underprivileged communities in Australia, but also Africa and Asia.
James shared his experiences of working in Kenya and Jerusalem in his early years as a Doctor and how many sliding door moments shaped his career. We loved hearing about Jame’s journey as co-founder of Sight for All, whose vision is. world where everyone can see. This social impact organisation is dedicated to fighting the causes of blindness with projects in Aboriginal and mainstream Australian communities, as well as training and equipping eye surgeons throughout Africa and Asia.
James also shared his passion as a fierce advocate for prevention of blindness with a touching patient story of Neil Hansel who lost his eyesight overnight. Caring for patients such as Neil, coupled with James’ wish to best utilise his Australian of the year Platform have led to incredible work advocating for societal improvements, for example through lobbying for changes to our Australian Dietary Guidelines, making a stand against the marketing of unhealthy products and his contributions to the new ten-year National Diabetes Plan.
This life’s work has been a shared passion of James’ family: His wife and two sons who we loved hearing about during our conversation.
Weblink: Sight for All: Sight For All – Teaching the world to see
It was such a huge pleasure to sit down and talk with Dr Nemat Alsaba. Nemat is an emergency physician at Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service and Assistant Professor in Medical Education at Bond University. She is passionate about Geriatric Medicine, Interprofessional education and bringing people together.
Nemat shared with us her journey of being born in Saudi Arabia, moving to the USA and how she eventually ended up living and working on the Gold Coast, Australia.
Nemat is a proud Muslim and shared with us her experience having just taken the month off work to observe the holy month of Ramadan which is observed as a time of fasting, prayer, reflection and community. Nemat also shared her experience having three children (2 of which were born whilst she was in Medical School) and her own personal journey through her son’s diagnosis of Autism and subsequently how this has changed things for her family and given her a wonderful life perspective of gratitude and empathy.
Nemat’s warmth truly shine through as she shared her incredible life story, we are so grateful to be able to share her story with you
What a huge pleasure it was to chat with Dr. Christine Park. Christine is a Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology and Clinical Medicine, the Director of Immersive Education Strategies and the Director of the Simulation and Integrative Learning at the University of Illinois College of Medicine.
Christine reflected on her Career as a literature Major to now working in Anaesthesiology (or Anaesthetics if you're an Aussie) and Simulation. She shared her initial regret in studying medicine until she was able to find meaningful ways to use her creative side through simulation.
It was humbling to hear of Christine's own personal experience of navigating a devastating patient complication and how that has transformed her career and reminded her the importance of impacting ONE person.
We loved also chatting to Christine about our shared experiences navigating starting a podcast, Cue a host swap in future!
Mentioned in the podcast:
- University of Illinois Simulation Beyond Simulation Podcast, hosted by Christine Park and Bob Kiser
- Park et al, Manifesto for healthcare simulation practice. BMJ Simul Tecnol Enhanc Learn. 2020
In episode 17, we hear the personal story of Dr David Bade who is, among other things, the Director of Orthopaedic Surgery at Queensland Children’s hospital and the current QLD Australian Orthopaedic Association chairman.
David shared his personal experiences of finding his tribe in Orthopaedics and his hands-on approach to leadership. David talked us through his own experiences which led to burnout, in the midst of a career that he loves and how this led to a pivot into the wellness space which is not commonly a space occupied by surgeons.
This conversation pulled at our heartstrings and is filled with honest reflections from David who has learnt that “Orthopaedic surgery is not who I am, it’s what I do” – tune in to hear about this and many other insightful musings that give us a lot of hope for the future of surgeons’ health and happiness.
Follow up links mentioned:·
The imperfects podcast, hosted by Hugh Van Cuylenberg and Ryan Shelton.
Article: Physician Well-being 2.0: Where Are We and Where Are We Going? Tait D Shanafelt. Mayo Clin Proc. 2021.
For episode 16, we took the chance to sit down with Dr David Spain, affectionately known as "Spaino" to capture some of his experience and advice as he moves into retirement after a long and successful career (42 years!) in emergency medicine as the Deputy Director of Gold Coast Health ED.
Spaino shared his thoughts on the history of emergency medicine and the growth he has witnessed while being part of the specialty. We also heard his predictions for the future of emergency medicine and the challenges the profession continues to face.
We loved hearing Spaino's viewpoint on being an (introverted) leader, always leading with integrity and being quietly authoritative to achieve success. He provided insight into his transition into retirement and how flying remote controlled planes (and other cool things) is helping the transition away from clinical practice.
Spaino is a man of few words so we were extra grateful for him to talk with us, and for longer than he would usually talk to anyone.
Book suggestion: Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
Episode 15 and Humans in Health has gone international with an interview with Dr Jeremy Howick.
Jeremy Howick is an Oxford researcher who uses philosophy and medical research to look for ways to find better evidence for things that make us happier and healthier.
Jeremy shared with us his personal experiences which have influenced his decision to focus his life’s work on evidence based wellness. How incredible to hear Jeremy's own journey to winning a silver medal at the World Rowing Championships after first being asked to join the rowing squad at University having never seen a boat and with no objective reason to be good at it.
What a pleasure is was to hear about Jeremy’s work around the science of placebos, the importance of empathy and mind body healing. We heard about Jeremy’s book “Doctor You: introducing the hard science of self-healing” which hit #1 on Amazon, and has been published in 7 languages. Not only did we get some insight into how this book came about and what can be found inside, but we were able to delve deeper into the book writing experience itself.
Jeremy generously shared many of the techniques he recommends for optimizing mind body health so don’t mind our audible deep breaths as we were guided through some easy, evidence-based techniques which can be incorporated into your daily routine.
For more information including links to Jeremy’s book and Doctor You 8-week wellbeing course, head to https://www.jeremyhowick.com/
What pleasure it was to interview Rusty: an Occupational Therapist with Gold Coast Health who is interesting, passionate and hilarious (among other things).
Rusty has spent the last ten years working in OT both in the acute setting and in the community and more recently has been working in palliative care and oncology. We were lucky to hear about Rusty's pursuit of "cuddle beds" which allows palliative patients intimacy through the availability of double beds that palliative patients can share with loved ones whilst staying in hospital in the final stages of their lives.
Rusty shared his personal journey to surrogacy with his husband Scott and bravely shared all the details: how, why, where, who.. And now Rusty is father to Finn who is 10 years old and Maisie who is 9 years old.
Pure delight in human form.. now to work out how to bottle him up!
In episode 13, we chat with surprise package Jo Hilder about her work, research and life.
Jo is a social worker with almost 12 years’ experience working in healthcare as a Research Officer, Social Worker and Welfare Officer at Gold coast Health. As a clinician, Jo predominantly worked with patients to address the social determinates of health. Specifically, as the Homeless Emergency Department Liaison Officer, she worked with some of the hospital’s most vulnerable population.
In addition to her clinical experience, Jo has also had experience as an early career researcher where her interest is in improving how health professionals learn through practice. Her PhD research, which is due for submission soon, aims to understand what influences social work prioritisation decisions.
We loved hearing from Jo about her work: what drives her and how she found the transition from working as the Homeless Emergency Department Liaison Officer to a research role.
Jo shares personal challenges and triumphs as well as the hilarious way she met her husband and some insight into her (surprising) obsession with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
As promised in the episode, the link to Jo’s fund-raising for the World’s Greatest Shave http://my.leukaemiafoundation.org.au/joannehilder
In epsiode 12, we interviewed the vivacious Dr Christa Bell.
Christa is a dual trained and qualified Emergency Physician and Paediatrician in Australia and the UK, working as one of the clinical leads for the Gold Coast Health Childrens Emergency services.
But.. she's also ten times more than that!
It was pure joy to chat with Christa as she reflects on entering the final quarter of her career. Christa talks about the influence of her Dad on her becoming a Doctor (and looking through his gorey text books as a kid). We also hear about Christa's most memorable patients and start to understand the important bond she forms with them and their families during their hardest days.
Christa shares her love of nature and mountain biking and what her experience has been like as a working mum. There were tears shared as we ask about her wonderful family - her husband and 3 fabulous kids. We talk about how she maintains her energy, and what happens when she's not in the mood (insert bleep).
We're also humbled to hear about Christa's own experience as a patient when she was diagnosed with breast cancer and how this changed her as a person and a health care worker.
As her friend's would say - she's sparkly, energetic and caring! She'll light up your day!
We finally worked up the courage to interview our friend/colleague/mentor/hero: Professor Victoria Brazil who is an emergency physician and educator. Adoring Vic the way we do, we tried to keep the gush factor under control, but let’s just say it was not easy!
She is Professor of Emergency Medicine and Director of Simulation at the Gold Coast Health Service, and leads the Bond University Translational Simulation Collaborative. Victoria’s main interests are in connecting education with patient care - through translational simulation for healthcare, and in developing high performing teams.
Victoria is an enthusiast in the social media and #FOAMed world (@SocraticEM). She is co-producer of Simulcast and she hosts the Harvard Macy Institute podcast. She also serves as a faculty member with the Harvard Macy Institute.
We loved hearing from Vic about how the Professor Victoria Brazil we know came about which she confirms was not necessarily a scripted path, but a thoughtful one.
Vic shares reflections on her escapades as a Student Union President in her University days and her thoughts on working as an educator and leader in simulation. We talked about the the real magic behind the wizardry of Simulation: being able to have a conversation to do justice to the re-creation of a patient care episode. We learnt more about her love for the creativity and discipline of medical education and we were able to relate to the humble beginning of Vic’s (now exceptional) podcasting journey when she started by “doing something with a friend, talking about something interesting”.
We try to tease out how Vic continually achieves peak performance, what she’s currently working on and what it is that does push her buttons.
Follow Victoria at @SocraticEM or look her up at drvictoriabrazil.com
Books mentioned
Deep Work by Cal Newport
In episode 10, we interview Cat Delanyy: an Australian Emergency department nurse and retrieval services clinical nurse.
We were excited to talk to Cat about her emergency and pre-hospital work, but also her experience working in Humanitarian Aid through employment to the middle east in August 2021. During a whirlwind trip, Cat literally threw some belongings into her bags and jumped on a plane to work at a humanitarian aid hub in Dubai for 2 weeks caring for men, women and children who had fled Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover.
Cat shared her experience arriving at the Humanitarian Aid hub to extreme heat, a whole lot of sand and half a shipping container shared between 4 Nurses for her first night's sleep (not to mention in the middle of a pandemic). What she came away with was more than she would have imagined, including a heightened appreciation of both working in Australia and also the resilience of the Afghan Evacuee's she was caring for.
Websites mentioned:
- https://www.preventionweb.net/
- https://www.icrc.org/
- https://www.redr.org.au/training-courses/our-courses/essentials-of-humanitarian-practice/
In episode 9, we interview the brave, open and honest Zoё Shuker: an Administration Officer in the Gold Coast Health Emergency department.
Zoё shares with us her journey of socially and medically transitioning from male to female over the last two and a half years. We talk to Zoё about how she came to making this huge decision, and the steps that this transition has included for her such as picking her own name, undergoing 4 surgeries in 18 months and the moment she finally looked in the mirror and recognised herself for the first time in her life.
We learn so much about misgendering, pronouns and dead naming, with Zoё sharing insights into how best to approach, communicate and support members of our transgender community. Zoё also bravely shares the heartache and challenges faced during her transition and we celebrate how far she has come.
It’s eye opening, raw and inspiring, we hope you love listening as much as we loved chatting.
This podcast was prepared by Brooke Bullock (host), Jessica Weatherall (host) and Zoe Shuker (guest) in their personal capacity. The opinions expressed in this podcast are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the view of the departments/organisations in which they work.
Associate professor David Green has been the Director of the Gold Coast Health Emergency Department since 1987 which means he has steered the ships growth from a 1 consultant, 20 bed department to it being one of the busiest emergency departments in Australia.
Greenie, as he is affectionately known, has made huge contributions to the development and direction of registrar training through the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and in 2018 was recognised for his services to the community with a Medal of the Order of Australia.
Greenie is a keen fisherman with those in the fishing world reporting that he is the best and most respected fishing writer in Australia, regularly writing for Fishing World Magazine.
We loved chatting to Greenie about his (perhaps non-traditional) leadership style, the changes he has seen in Emergency medicine over the last 4 decades, and his thoughts on the challenges emergency medicine has faced, and has coming.
Greenie describes his love of fishing: trying to catch something that you can’t see, hear or smell and the endless chase of the broad-billed swordfish.
This podcast was prepared by Brooke Bullock (host), Jessica Weatherall (host) and David Green (guest) in their personal capacity. The opinions expressed in this podcast are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the view of the departments/organisations in which they work.
In episode 7, we had the chance to yarn with Jess and Kitty who are both incredibly strong Aboriginal women working as registered nurses in a busy emergency department with a shared goal of Transforming healthcare towards cultural safety.
Jessica Payne, a proud descendent of the Yuwaalaraay people, started out her nursing career in aged care as an Assistant in Nursing, studying whilst working to become an Enrolled nurse and finally a registered nurse in 2019. Jess has also just completed her graduate certificate in maternal critical care. Kathleen Synot (Kitty) is a proud Wamba wamba woman and has been a registered nurse for over ten years.
Jess and Kitty share with us their own personal experiences of healthcare, both as patients and health care professionals. They generously share their insights, challenges and successes as tireless advocates for culturally safe care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Patients.
We learn about the difference between a Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country, how intergenerational trauma may affect a patient's likelihood to identify as a First Nations person and what we can do as health care providers to provide culturally safe care.
Resources discussed:
- SBS National Indigenous Television (NITV)
- ABC Indigenous
- Reconciliation Australia Home - Reconciliation Australia
- The Healing Foundation | Supporting the healing of Stolen Generations survivors, families and communities
- NAIDOC |
- Australian Indigenous HealthBulletin : A peer-reviewed electronic journal from the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet
- Closing the Gap | Closing The Gap (niaa.gov.au)
- First Nations Health Equity | Queensland Health
This podcast was prepared by Brooke Bullock (host), Jessica Weatherall (host), Kathleen Synot (guest) and Jessica Payne (guest) in their personal capacity. The opinions expressed in this podcast are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the view of the departments/organisations in which they work.
In episode 6, we were humbled with the opportunity to have a very personal (and brave) conversation with Jane Hogan about her experience navigating her Husband's Cancer diagnosis in 2019 and the Grief associated with him sadly loosing his battle to Cancer in 2021.
Jane is a senior pharmacist at Gold Coast Health. She has worked as a clinical pharmacist, educator, clinical lead in digital health and more recently, a researcher. We chatted with Jane about her training in Hapkido, a Korean martial art, which as we learnt, is not a form of Medieval sword fighting.
Jane shared her unique insights into her experiences over the last 2 years with her husband's diagnosis, treatment and passing, much of the battle which was fought at Gold Coast Health, the same health service where Jane has worked for the best part of the last 2 decades.
Jane articulates how to support someone facing their darkest days based on her experience, sharing what she found helpful. Providing practical insights into how to navigate cancer and grief and what we can do to support others.
Book Recommendation: It's OK that you're not OK by Megan Divine.
Decembhair fund-raising page: https://decembhair2021.gofundraise.com.au/page/BeardsOfGlory
This podcast was prepared by Brooke Bullock (host), Jessica Weatherall (host) and Jane Hogan (guest) in their personal capacity. The opinions expressed in this podcast are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the view of the departments/organisations in which they work.
In this episode, we change tact and take a deeper dive into the healthcare journey through a patient's lens.
The vibrant and zesty Katie Ives talks about her experience following diagnosis of a rare synovial sarcoma. Katie chats about reframing her life now from "survivor" to "surviving" and how she navigates the fine balance between immense gratitude for being alive while working through the lasting mental and physical effects of her cancer. We also explore what it's like for someone working in healthcare following such a personal experience with their own health.
Katie's creative ways of describing her experience, and showing her gratitude (with some.. permanent ink) is one not to be missed.
Links mentioned:
https://www.carergateway.gov.au/
https://cancerqld.org.au/
This podcast was prepared by Brooke Bullock (host), Jessica Weatherall (host) and Katie Ives (guest) in their personal capacity. The opinions expressed in this podcast are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the view of the departments/organisations in which they work.
In episode 4, we chat to the clever, kind and passionate, Dr Malwand Shinwarie.
Malwand is an Intern Doctor at Gold Coast Health who spent the first 14 years of his life living in Afghanistan before moving to Australia with his family in 2010.
We loved chatting to Malwand and learning about his experiences growing up in Afghanistan, moving to Australia 2010 where the only english he knew was "Hello, My name is Malwand" (cue, Culture Shock) to ten years later, becoming a Doctor. Malwand shared his insights about the rich and complex history within Afghanistan and his views and personal experiences with the recent Taliban Takeover.
Malwand: A clever, kind, passionate man. But just don't expect him to return a text message.
We discussed the best ways to help with the ongoing situation in Afghanistan, see links below:
- https://www.unicef.org/afghanistan/
- https://www.womenforwomen.org/
- https://effectivealtruism.org.au/
- https://www.redcross.org.au/campaigns/afghanistan-crisis-appeal
- https://www.savethechildren.org/us/where-we-work/afghanistan
- https://www.who.int/countries/afg
This podcast was prepared by Brooke Bullock (host), Jessica Weatherall (host) and Malwand Shinwarie (guest) in their personal capacity. The opinions expressed in this podcast are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the view of the departments/organisations in which they work.
In episode 3, we interview the brilliant Dr Eve Purdy, and she's unbelievable!
Eve is an emergency physician and applied anthropologist. She is from Canada but now lives on the Gold Coast.
She treats patients in the Emergency Department but also spends time working with critical care teams across health systems to understand and sort out how to do their work better.
We loved connecting with Eve: hearing about what drives her, what CrossFit has taught her about team dynamics and how ordering at a restaurant in Australia is confusing.
Books mentioned:
- The Culture Code. By Daniel Coyle.
- Story, Not Study: 30 brief lessons to inspire health researchers as writers. By Lorelei Lingard and Chris Watling.
This podcast was prepared by Brooke Bullock (host), Jessica Weatherall (host) and Eve Purdy (guest) in their personal capacity. The opinions expressed in this podcast are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the view of the departments/organisations in which they work.
Episode two gave us the pleasure of interviewing our friend, colleague and hero, Dr Shahina Braganza.
Shahina Braganza is a senior emergency physician at Gold Coast Health and Honorary Adjunct Associate Professor at Bond University School of Health Science and Medicine. She is passionate about “non-technical” skills in the health profession – including wellness, team-dynamics, professionalism, communication and leadership.
Shahina is the founder of the oneED program and a founding member of wrapem.org. Explore her commentary and contributions on shahinabraganza.com.
We loved talking to Shahina about her journey to Gold Coast Health, her tiger-like Netball skills, the people who have inspired her leadership style, taking chances and her ambitions to encourage connection and wellness.
Welcome to Episode 1 of Humans in Health.
Dr Dinesh Palipana is a doctor, lawyer, disability advocate, and researcher.
One of the many interesting parts of his story is that it was Halfway through medical school, he was involved in a motor vehicle accident that caused a spinal cord injury.
Dinesh was the first quadriplegic medical intern in Queensland and the second person to graduate medical school with quadriplegia in Australia.
Dinesh is many things: A Senior Lecturer, Adjunct research fellow, Senior advisor, Adcovate for inclusivity, Awarded the order of Australia medal and Queensland Australian of the Year for 2021.
Lastly, we are lucky enough to work with Dinesh in the emergency department at Gold Coast Health.
We loved having the chance to chat with Dinesh about what he has learnt along the way and we are so excited to share it with you.