LOCAL LIFE

Blacktown and Mount Druitt Hospitals ( BMDH ) have had a rush of recognition with a number of doctors recently honoured for their outstanding contributions , as well as Kickstart funding grants being won by two clinicians .

The annual BMDH Doctors of the Year Awards were held to select the very best of the medical profession in western Sydney .

The 2023 winners were selected from more than 250 nominations for their notable contributions to health care .

Dr Bernie Changsiri , cardiologist at Blacktown Hospital for 10 years , was awarded the prestigious 2023 BMDH Consultant of the Year award .

“ It was a great and unexpected honour ,” Dr Changsiri said .

“ This means a lot to me and shows me that my work towards patient care and teaching of junior staff is appreciated .”

Joint awardees of the 2023 Intern of the Year award were Dr Peter Tran and Dr Lmar Shinwari , also known as the “ Cannula King ”.

Dr Nishita Muchhala was named the 2023 Resident Medical Officer ( RMO ) of the Year after being recognised for her strong leadership skills . She is known as the “ Queen of Blacktown Hospital ”, having previously won 2022 Intern of the Year .

Dr Mithila Zaheen received the 2023 BMDH Registrar of the Year award .

Meanwhile , Frank Gomes , an ED senior occupational therapist at Blacktown and Westmead hospitals , was named as the recipient of the Kickstarter Grant for Allied Health , with his topic ‘ Detecting decline in functional cognition in older adults to aid timely and safer discharge from the Emergency Department ’.

Mr Gomes found older adults with cognitive impairment were 1.5 times more likely to have an avoidable ED visit , and two times more likely to have a hospital admission or return after an ED visit .

“ Currently ED discharge planning does not include routine cognitive screening or management plans , nor do we currently have feasible or validated standardised tools to assess functional cognition to identify high risk older adults ,” Mr Gomes said .

Bryan Adduru , Drug Health Services , Blacktown Hospital , also received a Kickstarter Grant for his project titled ‘ Investigating patient experiences of changing opioid dependence treatment medication ’.

The Kickstarter Grant Program offers clinicians the opportunity to research an idea that may improve service and patient outcomes and assists in launching the next step in their careers .

Blacktown Dr Mithila Zaheen ( Medical Officer ).

Blacktown Hospital cardiologist Dr Bernie Changsiri .

BLACKTOWN CITY INDEPENDENT theindependentmagazine . com . au ISSUE 36 // MARCH 2024 11