“We are … locking people out who have not got vaccinated to protect themselves and protect everybody else.” THOSE were the words of Victorian Premier Dan Andrews as he recently announced the joyous news of Melbourne’s release after 262 days of strict stay-at-home orders. While Premiers are announcing…

THANK you for providing an opinion on the following urgent issues confronting our surgical patients. As surgeons and their hospitals are busy tackling the backlog of elective procedures after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, they may not yet be fully aware of the significant access…

WELL before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic hit our health care system, it was apparent that a substantial number of doctors worldwide were experiencing mental illness (here and here), suicidal ideation and suicide mortality (here and here). While there is some debate as to whether…

A previously healthy 72-year old woman, Clare*, requests an increased dose of the opioids first prescribed by another GP via a telephone call. She has become housebound during the pandemic with severe right hip osteoarthritis, aggravated by immobility, weight gain and depression. The longer Clare waits…

THIS was the question I asked a number of my medical colleagues during the height of COVID-19. Here are some recent answers: “Public health”. “Australia isn’t America” “The funding of telehealth” “Reduced air pollution” And from a GP in remote Australia: “I always live like this…

AN inspiring, but overlooked image of the recent firestorms in Australia still plays on my mind. Dedicated aged care workers, many of whom were concerned about losing their own homes, walked across paddocks because of road blockages to care for frail senior Australians in residential aged care facilities.…

Harry*, an 82-year-old in an aged care facility with a comminuted fracture of his right radius, severe right shoulder pain and a deep facial laceration after a fall. David*, a 50-year-old with diabetes and cardiovascular disease with severe groin pain due to a strangulated hernia. Carmen*, a 45-year-old…

A GROUP of second year medical students recently told me they avoid consulting their own doctor for fear of a mandatory notification to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). They referred me to ongoing media reports claiming that the amended National Law will deter doctors and…

WELCOME to the last issue of InSight+ for 2019! Forty-eight issues in and we’ve covered a lot of ground – from adolescent concussion to XDR typhoid. This year we formed partnerships with the Black Dog Institute and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute to bring you regular content. We are…

AN emaciated man in his 80s was bedridden on layers and layers of newspapers in a futile attempt by his apathetic son to cover up the stench of faeces and urine. The trauma of being confronted with this abhorrent case of elder abuse on a home visit as a young GP over 30 years ago still haunts me. But…

HOW is it possible that endemic bullying (here, here, here and here) persists in medicine despite a Senate inquiry, viral social media campaigns, doctor education, incident reporting and other initiatives to improve awareness, mutual respect and medical culture? In some cases, we can blame health systems…

HEALTH care is increasingly complex. Objective peer review, constructive feedback and robust debate are essential to continually improve the quality of patient care. But doctors don’t always disagree well. One of the contributing factors to bullying in medicine is the complex interplay of different…

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” Attributed to Albert Einstein DOCTORS continue to have high levels of mental illness and suicide partly because a medical career has never been more challenging. It is unthinkable that most doctors believe they cannot…

MY first response to a colleague who says “I am depressed” is critical for a number of reasons. Doctors have tough emotional masks and it has been difficult for my colleague to trust someone and disclose this. Due to the enormous stigma surrounding mental illness in the medical profession, this…

THE well known 2013 beyondblue national mental health survey of about 14 000 doctors and medical students reported that over 10% experienced suicidal thinking in the previous year. Five years on, we have failed to address the scale of our problem and we continue to confront the tears behind the statistics…

INCIDENTS of aggression from colleagues in clinical medical practice are surprisingly high in Australia, according to findings from the first nationwide study into medical workplace aggression. The authors of the research, published in the latest MJA, said the results of the cross-sectional study of…