Trailblazer
Old Dog, New Tricks
It may have been the long way round to medicine, but for GP registrar Dr Graeme Fitzclarence, the journey has made him a better doctor.
��Dr Graeme Fitzclarence at work. Below: with sons and wife, Dr Cherelle Fitzclarence.
Dr Graeme Fitzclarence has come a long way since his boyhood days on a farm near Bencubbin in the WA Wheatbelt. How’ s this for a quirky CV? Panel beater, spray painter, mustering pilot and stockman in the Pilbara, paramedic in the Northern Territory and throw in a heart transplant along the way. And all this before he became a medical student.
Graeme was nearly 40 when he began his studies at UWA’ s medical school. Eight years later he’ s in South Australia as part of his rural GP training and he recently applied to WAGPET for an anaesthetist traineeship. His early years as a mature-age student brought some interesting insights into the world of medicine along with a few light-hearted moments.
“ I was the oldest male but not the oldest student. There were two women who were even older than me! I always felt respected by my fellow students but that wasn’ t always the case with some of my professional colleagues. There were a few registrars in the hospitals who caused a few problems and that led to some difficulties on occasions. I’ ve certainly been in situations where I’ ve been older than the consultants.”
“ For some of my younger female colleagues I was something of a father figure. There was an amusing evening in Kalgoorlie when a few of the local guys were becoming overly-attentive with a couple of the young female graduates. Both of them asked me if I’ d mind pretending to be engaged to them. One would’ ve been okay, but two was stretching it a bit.”
Being a mature-age student is not uncommon these days but Graeme’ s premedicine background is unconventional to say the least.
“ I was heading towards being a farmer and then my parents decided to sell the farm. So I enrolled in a pre-trade Year 12 automotive engineering course and then transferred to Newcastle, NSW, where I continued my trade training and also did my private pilot’ s licence. I ended up working on cattle stations in the Pilbara combining aerial stock mustering and jackerooing. And then a friend of mine who was flying a helicopter fell out of the sky right beside me and was killed. I lost my nerve.”
“ So we went back to the east coast, I built up a panel-beating and spray-painting business and supported my wife, Cherelle through medical school in Newcastle. [ Dr Cherelle Fitzclarence is Deputy Director Prison Health Services, WA. See Medical Forum March 2013 ].”
Once again, life had another twist in store.
“ I had my own smash repair and sandblasting company but I was working too hard and breathing in a lot of nasty isocyanates. At the age of 26 cardiomyopathy brought my life as a tradesman to a screaming halt. A cardiologist said to me,‘ you’ d better go home and get your affairs in order because you’ ll be dead in 12 months.’ We sold up everything we had, travelled around Australia and when we got back I still hadn’ t died. In fact, I felt a lot better.”
“ Cherelle applied for a job in the NT and, in a round-about way that’ s what led to medicine. After I had my heart transplant in 2000, I couldn’ t go back to breathing in toxic fumes so I did a nursing degree at the NT University and did a lot of paramedical work offshore and on mine-sites.”
“ And then I thought, why not medicine? I did the interviews, the AMSAT and walked into UWA at the ripe old age of 39.”
Bringing both maturity and life-experience to the world of medicine is a good thing, says Graeme.
“ My background and, in particular, my illness has shaped me both as a person and as a doctor. It’ s provided me with empathy and wisdom that I wouldn’ t otherwise have had. I can vividly remember gathering our children around before my heart transplant to tell them I was going into hospital and the outcome was a little uncertain.”
“ I’ ve just finished speaking with a patient who’ s staring down the barrel of a kidney transplant. She was in real turmoil and I was able to draw upon my own experience to make it easier for her.”
“ I also think that coming to medicine as an older person can give you an enhanced understanding of the profession. When Cherelle was training we had three young children and, at the time, I had no idea how hard it must’ ve been. Medicine does take a toll on families, there’ s no doubt about that. I reckon one of the most important skills a doctor can develop is the art of selfpreservation.”
And the future for Graeme Fitzclarence?
“ There was a 20 year warranty on the heart transplant, and that was 13 years ago. At the time it seemed a lot but right now it doesn’ t seem like anywhere near enough and I’ m very aware of that. But, with new drugs and improved monitoring, a lot of transplants are pushing well past the 20 year mark.” �
By Mr Peter McClelland
medicalforum 21