Approaching Your Health Concerns…

Particularly for more complex conditions, my clinical approach is to gather the details, conduct an examination, and then formulate a management plan. The plan will include a number of suggestions on how to investigate and treat a problem or problems (if you have more than one…as is often the case!). You can be assured that the advice given will be:

• based on scientific principles and medical guidelines
• be comprehensive and holistic
• take into account your concerns, beliefs and understandings

My advice is based on close to 30 years of clinical experience as a doctor and an eclectic range of post graduate training. If necessary and appropriate, I will liaise with other practitioners, be they medical or otherwise, you have consulted to ensure I have the correct details of your clinical history. I am happy to give a second opinion (without expectation for further attendance). I like to give printed information whenever possible, and have a good range available in house and access to the resources from clinical databases world-wide. Whenever possible I will advise on health screening measures that are appropriate for age and sex. I have been practising continuously in the Bayside area for many years, initially in Hampton St, Hampton and more recently I moved the clinic to Brighton (but still in Hampton St!). There is access to a good range of specialist and allied health practitioners are on my database (psychologists, physicians, surgeons etc), if needed for referral purposes. They may be seen privately or through the hospital system. I am a strong believer in all forms of Rehabilitation, of both mind and body, as a natural way of getting back to health. When needed, I refer to rehabilitation services, with both public and private services represented in the Bayside area. I offer basic training in mindfulness meditation, as taught by Dr Craig Hassad at Monash University.

Education & Knowledge

My undergraduate medical training was at the University of Melbourne, followed by internship at St Vincent’s Hospital. Subsequent training was somewhat eclectic by choice, and during the late 80’s and 90’s part of my responsibilities involved caring for homeless and marginalised patients alongside Dr Harry Hemley OAM and the late Dr Peter Pearce OAM. I have found that the expected clinical outcomes for various treatments or investigative approaches are not always the ‘given’ as one might believe, and new information is always becoming available. Therefore I find its always worth investigating further options if the current options on offer do not seem to be entirely suitable. This is particularly so for complex conditions. If costly or invasive treatments/tests are proposed, I encourage patients to ask for information on safety and efficacy (effectiveness), and on the other options available. I subscribe and actively refer to online clinical databases, employing the skills gained from

• post graduate studies in Evidence Based Practice at Monash University,
• from Business Masters studies in Information at RMIT University
• from my time employed as a research fellow at the University of Melbourne, Department of General Practice.
• And last, but not least, I undertook over two years of post-graduate study in the areas of Herbal Medicine, Nutritional Medicine, Mind-Body Medicine, Musculo-skeletal Medicine and other of the more mainstream Complementary and Alternative Medical areas, leading to the post graduate qualification in Integrative Medicine (from Swinburne University, under Professor Avni Sali).

Combine the above with a the clinical experience from a long and varied career will provide an understanding of the ingredients to my approach. I hope to see you soon! I am a Doctor in Brighton, Melbourne.