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Welcome back to Stick with It. Today were joined here with Dr Jeremy Robertson, Qantas Flight Medical Officer and First Officer on A321.  

Jeremy started out life as a pilot, completing the UNSW Bachelor of Aviation degree in 1998, then spending three years in GA instructing at Bankstown and charter/scenic flying in the Kimberley. He joined Qantas in 2001 as a B744 S/O and was promoted to B767 F/O in 2006. In 2010 he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes which resulted in the loss of his class 1 medical and a medical termination from Qantas.  

After leaving Qantas, Jeremy completed a Master's Degree in Aerospace Engineering before deciding to pursue medicine as his next career, graduating from a Bachelor or Medicine / Bachelor of Surgery in 2015. For the last decade he has worked in a variety of medical roles including two years in the emergency department at Hornsby Hospital in Sydney, a brief stint as a GP registrar, running his own private DAME business, and as Medical Officer at Virgin Australia (including six months as their acting Group Medical Officer during the COVID Delta outbreak). 

In parallel to his medical career, Jeremy continued to fly whatever aircraft his level of medical certification allowed. This has included RAAus instructing, GA instructing, skydive flying, and in-house corporate flying for a number of businesses using TBM850’s. Jeremy rejoined Qantas in 2023 and has been working in a mixed role of 50% line flying as a B737 F/O and 50% with Group Medical as a Medical Officer. 

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Intro
03:03 - Type 1 Diabetes Diagnosis 
08:31 - Dealing with Adversity
14:06 - Medical School
16:37 - Time as a GP and Passion for Flying in the Background
20:28 - Side effects of Type 1 Diabetes
24:35 - Getting Class 1 Medical Back
28:17 - Return to Flying 
30:35 - Qantas Medical 
33:19 - Health Topics for Pilots
38:51 - Closing Remarks

Fly safe and stick with it.