DR MATT JAMES

HAVING SPENT SEVERAL years studying finance and accounting and then working in an advertising agency in Sydney Dr Matt James is a latecomer to medicine and anaesthesia.

The 34-year-old registrar recently finished a six-month placement at Coffs Harbour Hospital as part of his 12-month training rotation with Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital. The keen surfer made the most of living across the road from Park Beach and regularly swam and surfed in between his work shifts at the hospital.

Born in Manly, Dr James completed a business degree at UTS in Sydney after leaving school and worked in advertising and marketing companies for several years. Conversations with friends who were studying and working in medicine sparked his interest and he started studying for the Graduate Medical School Admissions Test (GAMSAT). After passing the test he had a high enough score to enroll in the Bachelor of Medicine/ Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) program at Notre Dame University in Western Australia.

Clinical placements in the Kimberley and Margaret River regions in WA during his study introduced Dr James to rural and remote medicine and also gave him the opportunity to combine medicine with his love of the outdoors and surfing.

His next challenge was then to return to NSW and start seeking internships at hospitals there.

“I chose the rural preferential pathway which meant I could do a placement at Port Macquarie Base Hospital on the mid-north coast. I then had placements at Royal North Shore Hospital including in ICU as a critical care resident,” Dr James told the Bulletin.

“It was when I was going into my first year as an intensive care registrar that I decided to pursue anaesthesia as my specialty so I then completed a year in the anaesthesia department at Ryde Hospital in 2019. The main difference moving into anaesthesia was that I went from taking care of an entire room of patients with multiple medical conditions and health issues to having one patient a time for a period of time while they are under your care.”

“As a trainee at Coffs Harbour I was exposed to most facets of anaesthesia including trauma, obstetrics and paediatrics. On a day-to-day basis we shared the roster and there were six registrars, all at various levels of training. On evening shifts we worked from 3.3011.30pm and then if you were rostered on the night shift you went home with the phone in case you need to be contacted.”

Although he has now returned to Sydney for the next stage of his training he hasn’t ruled out returning to Coffs Harbour after fellowship.

“I grew up on the east coast of Australia and I love the beach lifestyle. In Coffs Harbour everything is so close to the water and property is cheaper. I could see the ocean from my balcony and it was great to be able to walk over the road and have a surf before work.

“It has been a strange few months because of COVID-19, especially with elective surgery being scaled back. Looking forward, though, the hospital is expanding and being modernised with new theatre facilities. There are beautiful coastal walks near the towns of Bellingen and Dorrigo with Sapphire and Emerald beaches also being a short distance away.”