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The reasons I
became a doctor are lost in the past somewhere. I didn’t come
from a medical family. My father and grandfather were both art
teachers, so maybe I was inspired from a doctor on some TV
programme. I have witnessed an extraordinary range of human
experiences. Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to
be an architect or evolutionary biologist, but there is never a
sense of regret.
Some people are bemused when I say that I became an Old Age
Psychiatrist. My daughter even describes it as ‘psycho
geriatrician’. On the contrary, being an Old Age Psychiatrist
suits me. I have the opportunity to talk to and listen to the
stories of people who have been places and done things. Hearing
about the war experiences of the returned soldiers was a
favourite.
We work within our client’s home and with their families, which
is a great privilege. I enjoy the legal issues around competency
and recently set up an Advance Directive for people having had
ECT.
It has always been my preference to work within a close knit
team. I can’t imagine myself doing private clinics day in and
day out. Old Age Psychiatry offers the perfect situation. I work
within a supportive and good humoured multidisciplinary team and
have daily contact with all sorts of other teams such as the
geriatricians, NASC, Age Concern and our Liaison Psychiatrists.
I came back to Auckland after ten years away for family
reasons. I had never worked or lived in Manukau or other parts
of South Auckland, but I have taken to the place. The hospital
is a friendly community.
The Mental Health Services for Older People service includes our
15 bed ward and two community teams covering a large and
incredibly diverse area. There is urban and rural and the
largest range of different ethnic groups in the country.
For further information please contact:
Dr Mark Fisher,
Clinical Head MHSOP on +64 9 276 0000 or
Natasha Peters, Recruitment Consultant on +64 9 276 0044 ext
8784 or email:
mhjobs@middlemore.co.nz
To ascertain eligibility for registration with the Medical
Council of New Zealand, please visit:
www.mcnz.org.nz |
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