On The Wards: On The Pods Medical Podcast for Doctors

In part 2 of our 3 part Obstetrics & Gynaecology podcast series, we review how to be a good assistant in a Caesarean Section as a junior doctor.

Summary Writer:  Laura Park

Script Writer:  Rebecca Taylor

Editors:  Rebecca Taylor and Jane McDonnell

Interviewee:  Rebecca Taylor

Interviewer:  Jane McDonnell

About Dr Rebecca Taylor

Dr Rebecca (Becky) Taylor is a 6th year O&G trainee. Originally hailing from the UK, she trained at the University of Edinburgh where she also completed her internship and residency, before moving to Australia. She undertook her basic O&G training at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney. Rebecca is currently undertaking a two year Gynaecology Fellowship at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. When Becky’s not knee-deep in amniotic fluid she is a keen swimmer and free diver, a terrible cook and married to an anaesthetist she met at a Cat One Caesarean.

About Dr Jane McDonnell

Dr Jane McDonnell is an Obstetrics & Gynaecology Registrar based in Sydney. She completed her medical degree at The University of Notre Dame after completing a Bachelor of Medical Science from The University of Sydney. Jane has a Masters in Public Health from the University of New South Wales and has completed an internship at the World Health Organisation in Geneva. In 2019, she was awarded the JMO Teacher of the Year at Royal North Shore Hospital. Jane is interested in women’s and refugee health, teaching and research. Outside of medicine, she enjoys running and sudoku.

There are a lot of differences between Obstetrics & Gynaecology (O&G) and other medical rotations which can be daunting for junior doctors. Skills to achieve in an O&G term will depend on each individual – for budding GPs, learning about antenatal and postnatal care is important.  This is the first in a 3 part podcast series on the essential skills a junior doctor should aim to achieve during an O&G rotation.

Summary Writer:  Joshua Brousse de Gersigny

Script Writers:  Rebecca Taylor and Jane McDonnell

Editors:  Rebecca Taylor and Jane McDonnell

Interviewee:  Rebecca Taylor

Interviewer:  Jane McDonnell

About Dr Rebecca Taylor

Dr Rebecca (Becky) Taylor is a 6th year O&G trainee. Originally hailing from the UK, she trained at the University of Edinburgh where she also completed her internship and residency, before moving to Australia. She undertook her basic O&G training at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney. Rebecca is currently undertaking a two year Gynaecology Fellowship at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. When Becky’s not knee-deep in amniotic fluid she is a keen swimmer and free diver, a terrible cook and married to an anaesthetist she met at a Cat One Caesarean.

About Dr Jane McDonnell

Dr Jane McDonnell is an Obstetrics & Gynaecology Registrar based in Sydney. She completed her medical degree at The University of Notre Dame after completing a Bachelor of Medical Science from The University of Sydney. Jane has a Masters in Public Health from the University of New South Wales and has completed an internship at the World Health Organisation in Geneva. In 2019, she was awarded the JMO Teacher of the Year at Royal North Shore Hospital. Jane is interested in women’s and refugee health, teaching and research. Outside of medicine, she enjoys running and sudoku.

After hours work can be an area of nerves for the new junior doctor.  In this podcast we discuss after hours work, care and safety, explore available resources to be aware of and escalation plans that can help ease the stress.

Summary Writer:  Eloise Sobels

Script Writer:  Eloise Sobels

Editor:  Sonia Chanchlani

Interviewer:  Eloise Sobels

Interviewee:  Sonia Chanchlani

About Dr Sonia Chanchlani

Balancing clinical forensic medicine and training with the Royal College of Medical Administrators across Western Australia, New South Wales, and Queensland, Sonia Chanchlani completed a dual Masters in Health Management and Public Health alongside research into interventions to promote clinician wellbeing. Advocating for junior doctors and enabling a safe working environment led to her being appointed as the Director of Clinical Training at the Royal Brisbane Women’s Hospital prior to her current role as the Chief Medical Officer at MedApp working closely with organisations to ensure governance, clinician engagement, and wellbeing are prioritised.

About Eloise Sobels

Eloise is a final year medical student at the University of Sydney, New South Wales. She is currently completing her clinical years based at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Before embarking on her Medical degree, she completed an undergraduate in Medical Science (Hons) from Flinders University and worked in a Clinical Pathology Laboratory testing and reporting on blood results. Ellie has a passion for team-based medical care and is currently working on research into Multidisciplinary Team based care for End-Stage-Kidney-Disease patients. Ellie is an avid dog lover and enjoys any beach related activity, as well as playing hockey for the University of Sydney.

This podcast is part of our series on human factors in medicine and focuses on leadership. Vijay Roach discusses the experiences in his career that have contributed to who he is as a leader and shares stories that have been formative to his journey.

Summary Writer:  Josh Brousse de Gersigny

Script Writers:  Rebecca Taylor and Jane McDonnell

Editors:  Rebecca Taylor and Jane McDonnell

Interviewee:  Vijay Roach

Interviewer:  Rebecca Taylor

About Dr Vijay Roach

Dr Vijay Roach is a Visiting Medical Officer in obstetrics and gynaecology in both public and private practice in Sydney. Vijay is the current President of RANZCOG, having been elected to the role in 2018. He is also Chair of the Training and Accreditation Committee. Committed to medical education, Vijay lectures at the University of Sydney. He is former Chairman of the Gidget Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation promoting the importance of emotional wellbeing among expectant and new parents.

About Dr Rebecca Taylor

Dr Rebecca (Becky) Taylor is a 6th year O&G trainee. Originally hailing from the UK, she trained at the University of Edinburgh where she also completed her internship and residency, before moving to Australia. She undertook her basic O&G training at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney. Rebecca is currently undertaking a two year Gynaecology Fellowship at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. When Becky’s not knee-deep in amniotic fluid she is a keen swimmer and free diver, a terrible cook and married to an anaesthetist she met at a Cat One Caesarean.

In this podcast Abhi Pal speaks with Ranjana Srivastava about her varied career, in which she has used writing to explore the interplay of humanities and clinical medicine.

Summary Writer:  Lucy Coles

Script Writer:  Abhi Pal

Editor:  Abhi Pal

Interviewee:  Ranjana Srivastava

Interviewer:  Abhi Pal

About Dr Ranjana Srivastava

Ranjana Srivastava OAM, is an internationally-renowned oncologist and healthcare authority, as well as award-winning author and broadcaster.

Ranjana is a regular columnist for The Guardian newspaper. She is also a health presenter on ABC television and ABC 774 radio. She speaks frequently on health matters, ethics and doctor-patient communication at scholarly and community events. She has appeared at the Melbourne Writers’ Festival, the Wheeler Centre for Books and Ideas, the Sydney Writers’ Festival, the Adelaide Festival of Ideas, the Williamstown Literary Festival and many other events from an Oncologist

Educated in India, the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia, she graduated from Monash University with a first-class honours degree and several awards in medicine. Ranjana undertook her internship, residency and specialist training at various Melbourne hospitals.

In 2004, she won the prestigious Fulbright Award, which she completed at the University of Chicago. She was admitted as a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 2005 and started practicing oncology in the public hospital system. In 2014 Ranjana was recognised by Monash University as the Distinguished Alumni of the Year. She was also appointed an adjunct associate professor in the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. Ranjana was included in Westpac’s 100 Influential Women of 2015.

Ranjana’s writing has been published worldwide, including in Time magazine and The Week, and in medical journals The New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Journal of the American Medical Association and Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care Management. In 2008 her story Ode to a Patient won the Cancer Council Victoria Arts Award for outstanding writing. Ranjana’s inaugural Melbourne Magazine column was featured in the Best Australian Science Writing of 2012.

About Dr Abhi Pal

Abhi Pal is a Medical Oncology Staff Specialist at Liverpool Hospital, Sydney, Australia.  In his non-existent spare time he is completing a part time PhD through Sydney University in informed consent and clinical ethics during communication with patients with advanced cancer. He has a strong interest in drug development, clinical trials, communication and also in hospital culture, burnout and doctor welfare.

In this podcast Rob Pearlman and Sonia Chanchlani chat about the benefits and challenges of, and evidence for near peer mentoring.

Summary Writer:  Jane Ripley

Script Writer:  Alice Sun

Editor:  Evangelie Polyzos

Interviewees:  Sonia Chanchlani and Rob Pearlman

Interviewer:  Jules Willcocks

About Dr Rob Pearlman

Rob Pearlman taught himself to code during internship and built MedApp, his response to the inefficiencies that a Junior Doctor experiences whilst rotating through different hospitals and terms. Since launching MedApp in 2015, the platform is now deployed in 50 public and private hospitals across Australia, New Zealand, UK and Canada with 22,000 clinicians using it to access site-specific hospital information. Rob is passionate about health tech and improving Doctor mental health. Outside of MedApp, Rob continues to regularly assist in theatres, and enjoys cycling, swimming and Sci-fi.

About Dr Sonia Chanchlani

Balancing clinical forensic medicine and training with the Royal College of Medical Administrators across Western Australia, New South Wales, and Queensland, Sonia Chanchlani completed a dual Masters in Health Management and Public Health alongside research into interventions to promote clinician wellbeing. Advocating for junior doctors and enabling a safe working environment led to her being appointed as the Director of Clinical Training at the Royal Brisbane Women's Hospital prior to her current role as the Chief Medical Officer at MedApp working closely with organisations to ensure governance, clinician engagement, and wellbeing are prioritised.

Tom Ayton speaks to Elisa Cornish about the assessment of a patient with a corneal foreign body, the procedure to remove the corneal foreign body and provides some tips to help make it a little easier for junior doctors working in the emergency department.

Summary Writer:  Evangelia Haralabopoulos

Script Writer:  Tom Ayton

Editor:  Tom Ayton

Interviewer:  Elisa Cornish

Interviewee:  Tom Ayton

About Dr Elisa Cornish

Dr Elisa Cornish specialises in the management of medical retinal and inflammatory disorders of the eye as well as glaucoma and inherited eye disease.

Elisa has been passionate about research in retinal disorders since graduating with Honours in Science and completing a PhD in retinal development at the University of Sydney. She graduated in Medicine from the University of Sydney and then undertook her general ophthalmology training at the Sydney Eye Hospital network. She pursued sub-specialty training in Medical Retina, Uveitis, Glaucoma and Inherited Eye Diseases at the Professorial Unit at Sydney Eye Hospital and Moorfields Eye Hospital, London.

Elisa is a Consultant Eye Surgeon, Staff Specialist at Sydney Eye Hospital and Westmead Hospital, as well as being a Clinical Lecturer at the University of Sydney. She is actively involved in ophthalmology registrar and medical student teaching and is part of the Inherited Eye Disease Unit at the Save Sight Institute, Discipline of Ophthalmology where she has a special interest in electrophysiology.

About Dr Tom Ayton

Dr Tom Ayton is an Ophthalmology Registrar at Sydney Eye Hospital, Sydney, Australia. He is from Albany in Western Australia and has a background in exercise physiology and sport. During his postgraduate medical training Tom became interested in medical education, which he completed his course research in, as well as medical student teaching and Junior Medical Officer advocacy. Tom loves the beach, keeping healthy and is a very poor surfer.

Chris Elliot interviews Danielle Wurzel on the topic of Croup, a respiratory illness that usually occurs in children aged 6 months to 6 years.

Summary Writer:  Theoni Haralabopoulos

Script Writer:  Theoni Haralabopoulos

Editors:  Danielle Wurzel and Jenifer Liang

Interviewee:  Danielle Wurzel

Interviewer:  Chris Elliot

About Dr Danielle Wurzel

Danielle Wurzel is a Paediatric Respiratory Physician, she has appointments as a Consultant in Respiratory Medicine at the Royal Children’s Hospital, research fellow at School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne, and Honorary Research Fellow at the Murdoch Children’s Institute. Her clinical interests include a broad range of respiratory problems, with a special interest in respiratory viral infections and childhood cough. Danielle has a PhD in wet cough in childhood and bronchiectasis, with an ongoing research program to investigate the early origins of bronchiectasis with the aim of developing interventions to prevent chronic lung diseases in children. Danielle is also a co-author and contributor of the newly released Therapeutic Guidelines on croup, and is the perfect guest to discuss this with us.

About Dr Chris Elliot

Chris is a Consultant Paediatrician who works in a teaching hospital in Sydney and in private rooms. As well as clinical medicine he is enthusiastic about health communication and teaching. Chris is a Conjoint Lecturer for the University of New South Wales and writes the occasional article on child health for mainstream media. He also teaches Advanced Paediatric Life Support and sits on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health. Chris completed his Internship at Bankstown Hospital and Paediatric training through the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network. On the days when he is not at work he enjoys playing with his children, and also when they play by themselves.

Jules Willcocks talks to Jeremy Calnan about financial wellness, the basic concepts of economy and the psychology behind investing.

Summary Writer:  Laura Parks

Script Writer:  Jules Willcocks

Editors:  Jules Willcocks and Jeremy Calnan

Interviewee:  Jeremy Calnan

Interviewer:  Jules Willcocks

About Jeremy Calnan

Jeremy Calnan has worked in the financial markets and traded and invested for himself since the early 1990s. Jeremy was first licensed to provide financial advice in 2000 and then established his own Financial Advice Business in 2001.

He has extensive capital markets experience spanning research, strategy, structuring portfolios, asset allocation and management, risk management and trade execution across a range of asset classes.

Together with business partner Ian Flack, they established Calnan Flack in 2013.

He is a member of the Calnan Flack Investment Committee and holds the responsibility of being the Investment Portfolio Manager for the Calnan Flack Model Portfolios.

He has a unique take on the economic world and investing that is underpinned by his understanding of economic history and the cycles and events that define it.

Jeremy is an innovator, challenging the accepted investment landscape.

He is a knowledgeable presenter and highly effective educator. Currently, he authors the Calnan Flack Blogs, hosts the podcast "Property, Australia's Favourite Obsession" and the Calnan Flack "Insights" series as well as presenting at many Calnan Flack events and seminars, including the Calnan Flack Forecasting Conference.

Jeremy lives in Adelaide with his wife Alice and spends his spare time watching his two sons play AFL football or just relaxing with family and friends.

About Dr Jules Willcocks

Jules Willcocks is an Emergency Medicine Consultant and the Director of Prevocational Education and Training at Gosford Hospital.

His interest is in bringing out the best in people principally through mentoring and coaching. He firmly believes that wellbeing is a crucial part of this and that you cannot look after someone to the best of your abilities if you yourself are not well.

He trained as an executive coach and has a particular interest in financial wellness for doctors.

In this podcast Jules Willcocks chats to Rob Pearlman and Sonia Chanchlani about why orientation and handover is so important for new Junior Doctors taking to the wards for the first time.

Summary Writer:  Eloise Sobels

Script Writer:  Peter Hoppett

Editors:  Jules Willcocks

Interviewees:  Sonia Chanchlani and Rob Pearlman

Interviewer:  Jules Willcocks

About Dr Rob Pearlman

Rob Pearlman taught himself to code during internship and built MedApp, his response to the inefficiencies that a Junior Doctor experiences whilst rotating through different hospitals and terms. Since launching MedApp in 2015, the platform is now deployed in 50 public and private hospitals across Australia, New Zealand, UK and Canada with 22,000 clinicians using it to access site-specific hospital information. Rob is passionate about health tech and improving Doctor mental health. Outside of MedApp, Rob continues to regularly assist in theatres, and enjoys cycling, swimming and Sci-fi.

About Dr Sonia Chanchlani

Balancing clinical forensic medicine and training with the Royal College of Medical Administrators across Western Australia, New South Wales, and Queensland, Sonia Chanchlani completed a dual Masters in Health Management and Public Health alongside research into interventions to promote clinician wellbeing. Advocating for junior doctors and enabling a safe working environment led to her being appointed as the Director of Clinical Training at the Royal Brisbane Women's Hospital prior to her current role as the Chief Medical Officer at MedApp working closely with organisations to ensure governance, clinician engagement, and wellbeing are prioritised.