3 minute read
DOCTOR WITH NO BORDER Dr Rowan Gillies
by sceggs
Dr Rowan Gillies
Primary School parent Dr Rowan Gillies has spent much of his medical career overseas. With a strong humanitarian interest, Dr Gillies has served in countries from Sierra Leone to the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as in Geneva where he was the President of the Médecins Sans Frontières International Council. Here, Dr Gillies shares with SPAN News readers a few insights into his career.
Tell us about your career journey so far.
After graduating from UNSW Medical School and working for two years in the hospital system, I worked for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), a medical-humanitarian organisation, as a general doctor in a program in the east of Afghanistan for six months. Following that and interspersed with general surgical training back in Australia, I worked in countries that were enduring chronic civil wars such as Sierra Leone, Southern Sudan and Liberia, again as a doctor and also as a medical coordinator.
During that time, I joined the board of MSF Australia and became its president. I was then elected to be President of the MSF International Council, based in Geneva for a 3-year period. That role involved working as a field doctor in multiple countries, developing cohesion within MSF as well as representing the organisation externally to Governments and multilateral organisations.
When I finished this, I returned to Australia to train as a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, culminating in a fellowship in global surgery at Harvard University, based in both Boston and Haiti. I am now a plastic and burns surgeon based in Sydney.
What role does technology play in plastic and reconstructive surgery?
Technology has changed a lot! For example, when someone has their jaw resected for cancer treatment, we take the fibula bone with its blood supply, shape it, hook up its blood supply to the vessels in the neck using a microscope and plate the “new” jaw into the patient’s mouth. Five years ago, the shaping of the bone and bending of the plate was all done by hand. Now we have the plate and cutting jigs made by 3D printing and virtual surgical planning based on the scans of the patient. This provides better results in a shorter amount of time.
What is the most rewarding aspect of a career in medicine?
There is a real happiness we all achieve when helping someone else. Most of the results in medicine don’t come from individual efforts but from a huge team that contribute to a positive outcome. Being an integral part of that team and helping a fellow human through a challenging part of their life is incredibly rewarding.
Having been involved in a lot of humanitarian work, how has this influenced your practice today?
What I have learnt is that humans and especially human suffering and happiness, are both universal and intensely personal and individual. Being allowed to be part of that is a real privilege; it doesn’t change much whether someone is in extremis in Darfur or in the North Shore of Sydney.
What advice can you share with aspiring doctors who want to practise medicine abroad?
It is important that you don’t assume that you know better or more than those around you in resource limited settings. When you arrive at a new place, listen and learn; work out what is important to those people you are trying to help and deliver it if you can; be very honest about what you can’t. If you are interested in gaining experience in cross-cultural work either here or overseas, try to align yourself with Indigenous or refugee programs.
