University of Western Australia
Aidan Lewins is the latest trainee doctor to feature in an RCSWA series exploring the lives and aspirations of junior doctors and Rural GP Placement students from around WA.
The Broome 2022 alumnus shares his story...
Where do you hail from?
I was born and raised in Perth, WA.
What/who made you consider becoming a doctor?
I decided to pursue a career in medicine when searching for a career that would allow me to have a very direct relationship with the people who my work would benefit. I feel that in many careers the benefits of what you're doing can feel quite abstract.
While I completely understand that social value can be derived from a wide range of careers, there are few pathways where you get to interact directly with the person who is most benefitting from the work you do. This unique level of personal interaction with patients I believe will lead to a far more fulfilling line of work.
I also have a long-standing interest in human anatomy and physiology, and thus the choice to pursue a career in medicine was a very logical one for me.
Describe your training journey so far.
I started clinical placements in 2021 in Perth. I have been fortunate enough to work in a wide array of hospitals in Perth over my course of studies, including Sir Charles Gairdner, Royal Perth, Fiona Stanley, Fremantle, Hollywood and King Edward Memorial.
Studying in a diverse range of hospitals has given me better insights into variations in clinical practice, the workings of different medical systems, and a more rounded view of medical practice. I was also fortunate to study in Broome as part of the RCSWA program in 2022.
Broome Hospital staff see an array of health conditions and presentations which are far less common in the Perth metropolitan area and must deal with these unique challenges with a different set of available resources. This can result in some inventive and adaptive approaches to healthcare practice. Seeing the way clinical practice is adapted to the setting of Broome has absolutely offered me better insight into the thought processes underpinning quality medical care, and how to think critically about the provision of high-quality healthcare.
Does the rural clinical environment match your expectations?
My time working and studying in a rural environment exceeded my expectations for the year of placement. The level of involvement in the practice of medicine far exceeded what I had become accustomed to in the metropolitan setting. Despite this increased involvement, I never felt like I was being asked to perform tasks that were outside my comfort zone, which was aided by the exceptionally high level of support offered to RCSWA students from their sites.
What were the major differences you experienced in a rural setting vs metro?
There was an array of differences between living and working in a rural versus metropolitan setting. The most striking to me were the increased sense of community, variations in first line management to match locally prevalent conditions and resource availability, and the unique range of allied health professionals with which rural practitioners work closely.
Do you have a speciality interest and what sparked your interest in it?
I have interests in Critical Care, Physician Care, Aerospace Medicine, and Rural Healthcare. I hope long term to find a career pathway that allows me to fuse these interests as much as possible.
What does a typical day look like for you on placement?
A typical day on placement for my Rural General Practice term starts reliably with a good espresso at home. I'll then head to the hospital with the other RCSWA students and into the ED. After dropping my stuff off, I'll go to the roster board to check which doctors I've worked with in the past are on to run cases by. I'll then go and have a chat to the nurse coordinator and find an appropriate bay within the ED to conduct patient reviews, under the supervision of a senior clinician. Here I will take histories, conduct examinations, and consider basic investigations. I'll then formulate a further investigation and management plan and discuss the case in depth with my supervising senior clinician to ensure accuracy and efficacy of any proposed plans.
I've been very involved in management and investigation planning, handover, and team communication with the various wards for patient referrals and conducting basic management. This experience closely echoes what I will likely be required to do as an intern doctor on an ED rotation in 2024, so it’s an invaluable experience to practice the skills required of an intern doctor in a safe and supported environment.
Image: Aidan Lewins.
What is the best part of doing what you do?
It’s absolutely the sense of community that arises from being a medical student. Working together with a group of intelligent, diligent, and well-meaning colleagues towards a career that we all see value in is fulfilling. There are challenges that arise from the studies themselves, the time commitment and the many extra-curricular activities that being a medical student entails, but such challenges are easily dealt with collectively, drawing on the experience of others and offering assistance where possible.
I strongly believe this communal approach to learning and studying medicine will also make us better clinicians, with an improved capacity to rely on others and work together towards improving patient outcomes.
Do you have any professional mentors or people you look to for advice?
I am very thankful for my professional mentors that my studies have exposed me to. I did not know any medical professionals personally when I started studying medicine, but UWA and RCSWA are both in the business of helping build professional relationships for their students.
James Colalillo, my university assignment mentor, has provided some exemplary insights into pursuing a career in Critical Care Medicine, and I am very thankful for the role that he has played and hopefully will continue to play in my professional development.
During my time with RCSWA I was also fortunate to meet the Medical Coordinators for RCSWA Broome. All of these MCs have played an enormous role in my professional development and inspire me as individuals. Special mention to my MC contact Hannah Goodchild, and Rachel Hall, both of whom had a profound impact on my professional development in 2022. Finally, I have met an array of exemplary clinical practitioners over the course of my clinical placements, many of whom have provided excellent sources of advice and inspiration.
Have you learnt any big life lessons going rural?
Having seen first-hand the conditions, ingenuity, and commitment of rural practitioners during my time in and around Broome, it has definitely changed my understanding of the requirements and possibilities of rural healthcare.
Time spent in rural practice really allows for a more accurate distilling of the essential components and goals of high-quality healthcare. Witnessing the way healthcare practices must adapt to environments with different pre-eminent health conditions, different population demographics, and different resource availabilities allows for a more critical understanding of what healthcare services aim to achieve, and how the tools around us can be used to reach those goals.
Such thinking is often far less algorithmic than what I had experienced in the metropolitan setting, which really tests your deeper understanding of the clinical rationale behind investigation and treatment planning. I absolutely believe that my time spent studying medicine rurally will make me a better doctor going forward in my career.
Spending time rurally has also helped me to better appreciate the importance of a sense of community to feeling fulfilled in life. While conceptually the significance of community in improving wellbeing has been apparent to me for a long time, it was nonetheless shocking how actually living in a smaller urban setting with a greater sense of community delivered a better sense of life satisfaction. I believe that as human beings we are inherently social animals, who benefit from living in a tight knit community. Smaller rural settings seem, for whatever reason, to be more conducive to such an experience.
Where to next for you?
I will be working at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital as an Intern Doctor in 2024 and hoping to do some work in Karratha or Port Headland during the year, with longer term aspirations to enter Basic Physician Training.
Our Regional Training Hubs team members live in all corners of WA and connect junior doctors and medical students with experienced mentors and professional development opportunities. Find out more at uwa.edu.au/rcswa/regional-training-hubs or email [email protected]