Paul Smith

Sydney

Editor at Australian Doctor

Editor of Australian Doctor writing about health, society, politics and their strange, irrational alchemy.

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Articles

'If you identify me I'm finished': The IMG surgeons surviving life under RACS

4 days ago | ausdoc.com.au | Paul Smith

Ten years ago, AusDoc wrote about the medical profession’s ghosts, the IMGs being brought in en masse to work as GPs in the rural and remote communities where few doctors wanted to go. Isolated professionally and geographically, many were often exploited, with supervision done by phone with someone they barely knew and had probably never met.
Bariatric surgeons under pressure? Life beyond the $69,000 premiums

1 week ago | ausdoc.com.au | Paul Smith

Are bariatric surgeons in trouble? Many are facing sky-high premiums fuelled by an apparent rise in patient complaints. And what about the GLP-1s? Will they shrink future demand for their skills? × If this is your first visit to the new AusDoc website, reset your password here.
'Treat the cause of high specialist fees, not the symptoms,' says RACP president

1 week ago | ausdoc.com.au | Paul Smith

The physicians’ college says high specialist costs are a symptom of an unhealthy system but is yet to respond on whether greedy specialists are partly to blame. The Royal Australasian College of Physicians has issued a media release following the publication of a new Grattan Institute report this week that takes aim at “extreme fee chargers” — specialists whose fees are typically three times the average MBS schedule fee.
Dr Michelle Telfer revealed as 'Professor L' - the expert witness savaged by judge in puberty blocker case

1 week ago | ausdoc.com.au | Paul Smith

Prominent paediatrician Associate Professor Michelle Telfer has been revealed as ‘Professor L’ — the doctor accused of misleading a court after a mother lost custody to prevent her child from receiving puberty blockers. Professor Telfer, chief of medicine at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, is the former director of the hospital’s gender clinic.
Make specialists charging 'extreme fees' pay back the Medicare rebates, Grattan Institute says

2 weeks ago | ausdoc.com.au | Paul Smith

Specialists routinely charging so-called ‘extreme fees’ should be forced to pay back all Medicare funding at the end of the year, a new report says. The Grattan Institute released a 100-page assessment on access to specialist care this morning, saying the current system has become a lottery. × If this is your first visit to the new AusDoc website, reset your password here.
Welcome to the second coming of My Health Record

2 weeks ago | ausdoc.com.au | Paul Smith

Doctors have long asked an existential question about My Health Record. Why does it exist? What is its clinical utility? It has now amassed 1.7 billion documents — from MBS claims and medication lists to radiology results and health summaries. × If this is your first visit to the new AusDoc website, reset your password here.
Orthopaedic surgeons vs hospital bosses: Dr Sindy Vrancic quits in clinical independence row

2 weeks ago | ausdoc.com.au | Paul Smith

Dr Sindy Vrancic is something of a rarity being a female orthopaedic surgeon working in trauma in a major public hospital. But late last month the VMO reluctantly left her Canberra Hospital public position after a stoush with management over contracts and clinical independence that has triggered the resignation of two other orthopaedic surgeons and made a splash in the media.
Hospital ED accused of 'cooking the books' to hit government targets

2 weeks ago | ausdoc.com.au | Paul Smith

A hospital ED is under investigation after clerical staff were accused of doctoring data to hit ambulance ramping targets. According to media reports, staff at Melbourne’s Northern Hospital have been routinely altering records since 2017 to show patients being offloaded from ambulances within target times. × If this is your first visit to the new AusDoc website, reset your password here.
Is working as a solo GP unsafe?

3 weeks ago | ausdoc.com.au | Paul Smith

Given the complexity of the demands — both bureaucratic and clinical — is solo general practice safe? It is not just a question about patients, but about the emotional and physical burdens faced by solo GPs themselves. × If this is your first visit to the new AusDoc website, reset your password here.
Adriana: The brain dead woman kept alive as a 'fetal incubator'

1 month ago | ausdoc.com.au | Paul Smith

The description of Adriana Smith as a fetal incubator is confronting but accurate. The 30-year-old nurse is currently in Emory University Hospital in Georgia in the US. × If this is your first visit to the new AusDoc website, reset your password here. Remember MeForgot Password?