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GEIR O ’ ROURKE ONE of the father figures of rural general practice is back at work , five years after being deregistered following a horrific head injury .
Dr Jack Shepherd , the founding president of ACRRM , regained unconditional registration in June after completing eight weeks of supervised work in Gilgandra , in western NSW .
And he says the rebound wouldn ’ t have been possible without the generosity and support of the former RACGP GP of the year , Dr Patrick Giltrap , who supervised his placement .
The 73-year-old is credited with writing much of the curriculum for GPs working in the bush , yet landing his new job at the Orange Aboriginal Medical Service may be among his most significant achievements .
“ I ’ m in clover . Feeling like I can still be of use is the greatest happiness to me ,” he says .
The rural GP ’ s career has taken him around the world — from London and East Timor to the tiny town of Derby in WA .
But it seemed all but over in 2012 , when a Meniere ’ s disease attack saw him collapse in the corridor of Charleville Hospital in northern Queensland , severely fracturing his skull .
Dr Shepherd remembers the sickening spin and his futile jump
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to try to avoid hitting the ground in that moment .
“ I wanted to die because , while I knew I had a fracture at the base of my skull , I couldn ’ t remember the words ,” he says .
“ I thought I was done for , and it seemed utterly impossible that I would return to practice .”
After the collapse , the doctor became forgetful , prone to falling over and required full-time care
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from his wife to manage basic tasks .
“ The only thing that saved me from going totally nuts was the fact that I was a returned soldier from Vietnam , and the Department of Veterans ’ Affairs was incredibly sympathetic and useful ,” he says .
The feeling that he was losing relevance was devastating .
“ I have learned to my sorrow
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‘ I ’ m in clover . Feeling like I can be of use is the greatest happiness to me .’
— Dr Jack Shepherd
that among doctors , you are nothing if you are retired . You don ’ t have a say ; you don ’ t have a valid point of view ; you can ’ t influence anything unless you are working .”
He shunned the company of other doctors , but tried to ease his way back into society — slowly at first , by cooking sausages at the local Rotary Club , before moving on to sailing with other disabled adults .
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With time and patience , his health began to improve and by 2015 , specialists gave him the green light to restart his medical career .
That glimmer of hope was enough , and he dedicated the next two years to relearning how to be a doctor .
In March he was placed under the supervision of Dr Giltrap , the 2005 RACGP GP of the year ,
“ It was terribly frightening , and I was nervous as hell in my first few days that I would be too forgetful , too slow .”
But Dr Giltrap is a “ model of kindly charm ”, he says .
“ He countersigned every referral I did , all my X-ray requests , and it must have taken him an extra hour every day ,” he says .
“ It wasn ’ t frustrating ; it was reassuring that I was protected from making a mistake due to memory lapses .”
No memory lapses occurred , although five years out of medical practice means Dr Shepherd has had to learn the names of hundreds of new medications and others that have been renamed .
Dr Shepherd says he once again feels confident that he can meet the challenges of caring for patients .
And those who have known him a long time say he has more to give to the profession he loves .
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