With lofty ideals

Flinders University and Flinders Medical Centre are named after the British navigator and explorer Matthew Flinders. His was a life of discipline, youth and adventure – lessons for us all.

In early 1974, a group of students assembled outside the Sports Centre. We were the inaugural class in Medicine at Flinders University. The university had begun as an offshoot of Adelaide University only 10 years earlier, and then assumed its own identity.

Setting up a medical course was the brainchild of Professor Peter Karmel, the first Vice-Chancellor of Flinders University and a Professor of Education. Karmel’s mantra was ‘experiment and experiment boldly’, and his legacy is perpetuated in the ‘Karmel Endowment Fund’ that supports research endeavours throughout the university.

Of course, as 17-year-olds straight out of school, we did not know any of this. In the second year, when mature age students were accepted, they provided seniority and good balance to our obvious youth.

Much of the construction and ethos of the school was overseen by the founding Dean, Professor Gus Fraenkel, but my earliest memories are of commencing studies ‘up the hill’ in the School of Biological Sciences. This was because at that stage the medical school was just a shell, still under construction.

There was a bare site for the construction of the new school. Professor Fraenkel’s basic premise was to combine teaching, research and clinical medicine in the one location. This was a lofty ideal that was largely realised. He attracted talented teachers, researchers and clinicians from around the world.

The calibre of the research can be seen in the standing of the work produced and grants obtained over recent decades. There is a thesis that good research underpins good clinical practice, and this proved to be the case.

Like many courses of the day, our program was a general introduction to Biology, Chemistry and Physics. We were lectured by Jo Orbach (biology), Professor Malcolm Thompson (chemistry) and Professor Alex Hope (physics). I recollect practical classes where we distilled DNA and operated on rats for neuroanatomy.

In second year, we made our way to the medical school, one step behind the builders. A medical library was constructed, along with an anatomy laboratory/museum and a series of cubicles adjacent to the library for student study. It was all new and exciting.

Professor Fraenkel espoused the links between research, teaching and clinical care. He was of German origin, educated in Oxford, spent time in Hamilton, Ontario, where he obtained the advanced model for Flinders, and Dunedin; and then he was head-hunted to move to Adelaide.

Really though, I am getting ahead of myself – the need for another major hospital in Adelaide was perceived by the government of the day when Sir Thomas Playford was the premier. His was a Liberal Government, but that changed when Mr Donald Dunstan became Premier.

Construction started on the site of an old tuberculosis sanitorium. There are photographs of Mr Dunstan ‘turning the first sod’ astride a large Caterpillar tractor – just hidden behind him is the actual operator.

However, it is teachers who make a medical school, not buildings. The novelty of this new medical school attracted people from all over the globe. I wonder if they knew what they were getting into? They came to southern Adelaide in remote South Australia from Europe, America and Africa.

These were very talented people, but what really characterised their teaching was a strong personal interest in the students and delivering the best teaching possible.

Given the vast array of talent and teaching, what became of us all? I focus on a photograph taken at the graduation of the final class, which shows that 42 doctors graduated from an initial class of 64. I don’t think this could have been anticipated from the outset, and it makes me wonder about the selection of students. Of course, students change and develop, some gravitate to different fields, while others have their initial choices confirmed. Many became practitioners of medicine and there have been countless outstanding careers among the graduates.

Dr Wattchow’s graduating class outside the lecture theatres. He has attempted to identify and locate the class members, as below: (Back row, from left) ophthalmologist Peter Ingham, psychiatrist and geriatrician Geoff Seidel, surgeon Greg Otto, psychiatrist Deborah Blood, GP and anaesthetist Richard Watts, Tauny Southwood (Professor of Paediatrics (Rheumatology), Birmingham, UK), Gawler GP Rupert Thorne, Jamie Cooper AO (Head of ICU, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne), ophthalmologist John Glastonbury (Queensland), Hamilton GP Mike Forster, Di Campbell, physician Robert Van Den Burg (SALHN),GP Gary Shanks, author David Wattchow, dermatologist Lachlan Warren (WCH), ophthalmologist Paul Runge (returned to US), GP Steve Deller, GP Robert Pegram, Kate Burgess (Indigenous and women’s health), GP and psychiatrist Kingsley Wood, psychiatrist Peter Papay, liaison psychiatrist Rob Gribble (Alfred Hospital, Sydney)

(Middle) GP and surgeon Arnold Seglenieks (Millicent and New England), Chris Baggoley AO (former Chief Medical Officer of Australia), GP Dorothy Jones, GP Jenny Wood, GP Val Luckman (then Summers), GP and bariatrics surgical assistant Helen Patroney, GP Julie Forsyth, anaesthetist Suzy Szekeley, GP David Sare (Byron Bay)

(Front): GP Steve Byrne, neurologist Heather Waddy, orthopaedic surgeon Mike Sandow, Claude Wischik (Professor of Neurophysiology, Cambridge, UK, before moving to Scotland), dentist and oral surgeon Paul Duke, GP Deborah Pfeiffer (later involved in breast cancer screening), GP Robert McIver, psychiatrist Marion Catford (then Drennan)

Absent: anaesthetist Wendy Graham (Germany), psychiatrist David Kelly, Craig Shearing

As a member of the inaugural class of the Flinders Medical College in 1974, the medical school at what is now Flinders University has always had a big place in my heart.

When it (and I) began, the medical school was somewhat of an experiment, as Flinders University had only just formed a separate entity from the University of Adelaide. Now, nearly 50 years later, the experiment can be seen as successful. My book gathers my recollections of my time and experiences at Flinders University (School of Medicine) and Flinders Medical Centre (FMC). ‘As the twig is bent, so grows the tree’ is a proverb that refers to the shaping effects of early childhood, on personality and career. I have expanded its use here as I have detailed the influence of Flinders on my career, from my time as a neophyte student through to research training, specialist training and my life as a consultant surgeon. The memories are laced with humorous anecdotes along the way. Necessarily my history leads on to my recollections of training in surgery, and in research. I also reflect on the special roles of the clinicians’ special purpose fund, the Deans and CEOs and on philanthropy.

This work has opened the processes and world of popular publishing to me. It has made me realise what is involved by way of structural considerations and editing. While it has become apparent that the publisher makes the real profit, any earnings from this publication will be donated to the school’s research efforts.

- Dr David Wattchow

Christine Mausolf President

With the welcoming of our first years and now junior committee, the Flinders Medical Students’ Society (FMSS) has been able to start staging many of our pre-clinical events. The sporting rivalry between MD1 vs MD2 students began with our sports night continued with our annual netball game on campus. The MD1s came in very enthusiastically, with home-made banners and lots of crowd support, however for the first time in two years the MD2s took home the trophy. This is a great way for the two cohorts to get to know each other and find common interests outside medicine. Our FMSS Vice President External, Angelina Arora, organised an International Women's Day Stall in the library, handing out purple ribbons and bringing awareness to the day and what it means for women in medicine and more broadly in society.

We have also welcomed the new cohort of clinical science students, helping them orientate to the unfamiliar world of Flinders medicine and university life – it can be a daunting proposition when you have just finished high school. Finally, working with the Australian Medical Student Association (AMSA), Tom Cliffe (FMSS Senior AMSA representative) has marked the start of our annual Vampire Cup. Here, medical schools across Australia compete to donate the most blood and plasma from 1 April to 28 May. Red Cross visited the library to encourage students to donate and answered any questions they had, and assisted them in booking their next visits. As students we soon become aware of the significance blood donations have in health care, with one in three Australians needing blood products. The Vampire Cup initiative has been a great way to encourage students and their families or friends to donate, sometimes for the first time - and hopefully not the last. We encourage anyone who is eligible to donate.

FMSS also focuses on student advocacy, with one of our goals for the year being better integration with the NT medical students and a focus on the health of First Nations people. We are proud to announce better representation within the FMSS committee with four First Nation students assisting us with advocacy and events this year. Having spent 14 months in the NT on placement, I have been able to work closely with the FMSS NT students and with them develop a better plan for integration of resources and student integration; we hope to implement the plan in 2024. We are also looking forward to staging more online academic and information nights together, as well as better integration for advocacy.

With First Nations health as a focus, we were excited to work with our Indigenous representatives to release ‘Closing The Gap’ merchandise for students to purchase. FMSS has also hosted its inaugural First Nations communication workshop. Due to its success we hope to continue hosting it in the years to come.

It has been a pleasure returning to the vibrant campus at Bedford Park in Adelaide, with lectures and placements as well as social events in full swing. I am very grateful for the time I spent in the NT and would like to encourage more students and doctors to consider working in Alice Springs and Darwin and the surrounding communities. My experiences have been like nothing I have been exposed to previously, reshaping the way I view medicine and healthcare and how my own values sit within this new perspective. With the help of FMSS NT, I hope to further share my learnings with the students in South Australia and form a stronger alliance between the states.

Vi-Seth Bak President

The start of the year has whizzed past us and the University of Adelaide’s medical students find ourselves at the business end of semester 1.

Our first full-scale MedCamp in three years was held across the weekend of 17-19 March. The joy around the return of this much-cherished event was matched by the backdrop of blue skies and amazing sunsets from atop the campsite’s hills above Normanville. Our first-year students made the most of the opportunities to get to know each other and learn from workshops including suturing, plastering, and blood pressure taking, run by several student clubs. Organisers of the James Bond-themed Jazz Night were less lucky with the weather, but the heavy drizzle could not deter students determined to enjoy the music played by their peers’ bands. Coats were donned and ponchos were handed out, and the medical student spirit and good times prevailed.

The inaugural Adelaide Medical Students’ Association’s Careers Conference, held at the Adelaide Convention Centre in late March, gave students an opportunity to broaden their horizons and network with like-minded attendees and presenters. Attendees heard from a fantastic program of speakers including Professor Paul Kelly, Professor Helen Marshall, Dr Vijay Roach and AMA(SA)’s own Dr Chris Moy and Dr Hannah Szewczyk.

In the upcoming month, we are hosting the first event of which we hope will be an exciting start for a new student interest group focussing on clinical ultrasound. We have recently seen a great desire from students to develop their knowledge and skills in this increasingly important modality. With the help of Adelaide Health Simulation and their cutting-edge equipment and facilities, we hope this group will create much needed opportunities for students to learn and further their ultrasound skills to improve their future clinical practice.

With exam time around the corner, our EdPrograms team has been hard at work organising revision lectures and high-quality mock OSCEs for our fourth- and fifth-year students. These endeavours can involve well over 100 student volunteers acting as examiners and SPs across each day, and are held in the same simulation centre, using the same advanced B-line simulation recording and review technology, with which students will be examined in their real assessments.

Approaching rapidly is the introduction of changes to PGY1 and PGY2 medical training under the new AMC Prevocational Training Framework. The framework is being introduced nationally from 2024. This year’s medical school graduating classes will be the first cohorts to train as junior doctors under the new scheme, which reframes term requirements for PGY1 and imposes term restrictions on PGY2. Assessment also receives an update, with a later introduction of Entrustable Professional Activities and e-Portfolio into the framework. These are significant changes, and the AMSS is working with SAMET to communicate to students, particularly those graduating this year, the implications of this new framework for them. The monitoring of any issues that arise with the implementation of the new framework is likely to be a part of DiT advocacy over the coming years.