Tara Luck’s surgical journey

Dr Tara Luck is one of two women general surgeons at the Royal Darwin Hospital

Dr Tara Luck is one of two women general surgeons at the Royal Darwin Hospital. Her work involves managing a wide range of general surgical emergencies and elective work.

Tara initially worked as a clinical dietitian and was living in Barcelona when she came back to study medicine and surgery at Flinders University in South Australia. While working as a junior doctor at the Royal Darwin Hospital, she was successful in her application to SET training in General surgery. She completed her FRACS in Melbourne, which was followed by a Fellowship year in Upper Gastro-Intestinal Surgery. It was always her intention to return to the Northern Territory, where she grew up and her family is based. It has been a steep learning curve for Tara, who has just completed her first year both as a mother and as a consultant surgeon. “I feel I have jumped in feet first, and I have relied on both the excellent training I had in Melbourne, as well as the wonderful support I have both here locally, and over the phone,” she says. She also has the support of one of her good friends and fellow surgeon, Dr Richard Bradbury, who she now shares a private practice with. “We are a close group of surgeons in Darwin and our theatres are always open to each other. “One of the hardest challenges I found was breastfeeding a newborn when I returned to work. The fatigue of going straight onto the on-call roster was a challenge but finding an appropriate room near the theatre to pump or feed in was even more so. I can’t imagine having to do that as a registrar when you have much less control over your day.” Despite the challenges that face a new consultant, Tara is enjoying the diversity of operating that Darwin offers. Last month she was on-call and started the week doing a laparoscopic anterior resection for an obstructing bowel cancer, and managed a perforated gastric ulcer and multiple traumas (one requiring an amputation and the other escharotomies). She was also on-call during the infamous Cracker Night, which notoriously keeps everyone busy for a few days. “We are home to the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre, so that’s a big part of what we do,” she says. “We are also lucky enough to now have established plastics and neurosurgical services, which means we can provide a robust trauma service.

“There is also the very real health gap that continues to exist between First Nations Australians and non-Indigenous patients here. Amputations from poorly controlled diabetes, delayed presentations of pathology and the advanced stages of

“One of the hardest challenges I found was breastfeeding a newborn when I returned to work. The fatigue of going straight onto the on-call roster was a challenge but finding an appropriate room near the theatre to pump or feed in was even more so. ”

pathology—some due to the remoteness of the communities and the negative associations that people have about coming in—there is quite a stark contrast between Darwin and Melbourne in these areas.”

Tara has also developed an interest in looking after breast cancer patients. “I found that I was quickly getting a lot of referrals in this area, and I’m really enjoying looking after these women and being a part of the established breast special interest group.” Outside of work, Tara lives with her husband, an anaesthetist, and their young daughter. They enjoy the active lifestyle and rich culture that Darwin has to offer, particularly in the dry season and coming up to the Darwin Fringe Festival. Last month they ran the 12 kilometre City to Surf and participated in the Katherine Ultra Challenge in July. “There’s nowhere else like Darwin. It’s an amazing place to work and raise a family,” she says.