��Dr Angus Turner demonstrating an iphone adapter to Dr John Stace in Derby.
River gave him an appreciation of the power of individuals working together but organisation is the key. He’ s brought that aesthetic to his medical practice.
“ One of the challenges of field work is organisation and I love that aspect too. There are up to 50 people involved in this seven-week trip, more if you count each hospital stop. One of the hardest things is to communicate well to everyone in the team to ensure that no one is left out of the loop, while at the same time concentrating on a very small eye ball in front of you.”
“ That’ s where the importance of team work really comes in. It’ s about building a team spirit so that the service can be sustainable. I am so grateful to have people around – here at the Lions Eye Institute and in the remote clinics. Everyone just rolls up their sleeves and get on with it and though the days are busy there is a wonderful feeling of getting some great work done.”
Angus says that he is just a part of a continuum of work in indigenous eye
So it can be tricky to turn up as a visitor into a community with our own idea of patient flow and our own way of doing things and expect everyone to come running. If there is no trust or community acceptance, that visit will be a flop.
health that was started by the greats of ophthalmology, people such as Father Frank Flynn, Prof Ida Mann, who undertook the first survey of trachoma in the 1950s and‘ 60s, Professors Fred Hollows, Hugh Taylor and WA ophthalmologists Drs Phil House and Peter Graham.
“ They have all been an inspiration to me. Phil House, who has been going to the Pilbara for 21 years, took me under his wing when I was a fourth year med student and has helped me throughout my career.”
Like his heroes, Angus also looks beyond Australia’ s borders to lend a hand.
“ I grew up in rural South Africa into a family of five generations of country doctors. It must be something genetic! We left for WA when I was nine but I’ ve been working in South Africa recently for three months and I’ ll be returning for a couple of months at the end of the year because there’ s something really great working in developing countries.”
“ We have first world standards of eye care which we’ re trying to make accessible for
remote communities in Australia. That is one challenge. But continents like Asia and Africa have to deal with much greater need at different levels of equipment and expertise. That challenge is something that keeps us down to earth.”
For Angus, the challenges of the future lie in building on the work of ophthalmologists before him. He wants to make more city doctors aware of the bush services, hence a new website – outbackvision. com. au – has been launched. And telehealth is opening exciting horizons.
“ I really enjoy the potential of telehealth because our diagnosis is based on images and the capacity for imaging the eye is extraordinary with the technology in our pockets. The potential of images with diagnostic ability being sent from anywhere is huge.”
“ But there are barriers. I’ d like optometrists included in telehealth and considered part of the eye team and I’ m lobbying for that at the government level. GPs in the country are just so busy with such short time available to obtain good images of the eye. Other challenges relate to indigenous people not feeling comfortable in a video conference setting.”
On a personal level, the 36-year-old says there’ s a whole life adventure yet to unravel with travel and work in far flung places on the horizon.
“ And I’ m excited about that.” � By Ms Jan Hallam
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