��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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