Dr Katrina Pirie is an anaesthetist who is currently completing a PhD on analgesia for abdominal surgery. She joins us to discuss her research, with a focus on intrathecal opioids for minimally invasive surgery.

In 2024 Alfred Health launched an innovative multidisciplinary Perioperative Medical Service to improve the care of surgical patients. In this podcast we talk to Nadine Laurent and Stephanie Jinks, Clinical Nurse Consultants on the Perioperative Service, about the pivotal role nursing staff play as part of the perioperative team.

Prof Warren Clements and Assoc Prof Jim Koukounaras discuss the rapidly expanding role of interventional radiologists in patient care and expertise they bring to the perioperative team.

Professor Warren Clements is an interventional radiologist and researcher at the Alfred hospital and Monash University. In this podcast, Warren discusses the seven habits that he regards as important in helping to become a highly effective clinician-scientist.

If you have just been told that you need an operation, you're now at the start of a surgical journey. It may be a short journey or it may be a long one, but either way this podcast series is here to help you.

A Just Culture in the workplace means that everyone should feel safe to speak up, and leads to open and honest communication, systems thinking, engagement, and participation, where everyone is involved in making improvements. Professor Janet Anderson and Garry Mann, our Human Factors team, talk to Yooralla’s Director of Just Culture Miranda Cornelissen, about the benefits of implementing a Just Culture in the workplace.

The GLP-1 agonists have been generating much discussion and a degree of consternation in the Perioperative Medicine community. Our panel of experts discusses the mode of action, indications, and perioperative implications of this class of medications.

Thuy Bui is the Lead Pharmacist of the Analgesic Stewardship and Perioperative Medicine Services at the Alfred. She discusses the very important role of the pharmacist in all stages of the Perioperative process.

Any patient undergoing a procedure or intervention should be provided with an explanation of the procedure and the risks involved, and be asked to give their consent. Often this is a process that is poorly done or misunderstood by both of the clinician and the patient. Dr Maryanne Balkin discusses the legal and ethical issues surrounding informed consent and the capacity to provide consent.

Increasing numbers of older people are undergoing surgery and adverse outcomes are common within this patient group. Dr Margot Lodge is a Geriatrician with a special interest in Perioperative Medicine. She discusses the role of the geriatrician in Perioperative Medicine and the use of implementation science in adopting new models of care for the older person undergoing surgery.