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SPECIALIST INSIGHT
ANAESTHETIST
Dr Bridget Eff eney
Specialist anaesthetist, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane.
In her
own words
Life is busy and full for this Brisbane
doctor and mother, who is thrilled
by awake craniotomy and other
mind-blowing aspects of medicine
I’VE BEEN READING
Five books at once! The best reads so far
have been The Nix, by Nathan Hill, and
1Q84, by Haruki Murakami, an epic tome
of twisted alternative reality.
I’VE BEEN RESEARCHING
Art and mindfulness. At the Princess Alex-
andra Hospital we are introducing mind-
fulness training to senior registrars sitting
their fi nal exams. The Queensland Art Gal-
lery has been providing guided mindful-
ness experience. This has been profoundly
positive for our trainees and a good cir-
cuit breaker, reinforcing the importance of
self-care. Medical trainees sitting specialty
exams are among those with the highest
risk of suicide. This is my small contribu-
tion to stress reduction in our next genera-
tion of anaesthetists.
AN INTERESTING CASE
My area of interest is neuroanaesthesia. We
are doing more and more “awake” cranial
surgery to assess patient functionality in
real time while operating on critical or deli-
cate areas of the brain.
I think the most mind-blowing aspects
of medicine are watching the birth of a
MEDICALOBSERVER.COM.AU MARCH 2018
child, open heart surgery and awake
craniotomy. The irony of not giving an
anaesthetic is not lost on me but, surpris-
ingly, it can still be incredibly stressful.
MY TEAM
Is my saviour! The best part of being an
anaesthetist is the team with whom you
work. You are never alone in a routine or
emergency situation in the operating the-
atre. Being called into theatre in the mid-
dle of the night is much easier knowing you
will be surrounded by a willing team facili-
tating the best outcome for the patient.
WHAT CHALLENGES ME?
My children, who are my greatest loves,
harshest critics, a bewildering source of joy
and stress and who keep me on my toes.
Going to work is a welcome respite from the
beautiful, crazy chaos of four little girls!
I’M WORRIED ABOUT
For the world: climate change; for my
children: obsessional use of devices and
screens and their eff ect on brain develop-
ment; for myself: work-life balance.
IN MY SPARE TIME
I tend to fi ll in every spare second with
exercise, work, kids and domestic jobs, and
then crash in the evening, often not long
after the kids. We love to travel. Our last
adventure was to Sri Lanka where we vol-
unteered in an orphanage, hiked in the
tea country, then fl aked out in a fully ser-
viced seaside villa. It was an immersion in
extreme poverty with a few days of luxe.
We were challenged, saddened, enlight-
ened — and returned to work restored.
A THORN IN MY SIDE
Ambivalence or laziness in patient care.