Dr. Katriona Ross

Name: Dr. Katriona Ross

Career stage: Consultant

Location: Melbourne

Position:

Medical Specialty: General Practice

What do you enjoy most about general practice?

The flexibility, the privilege and the interfamily connections... The job is very flexible in terms of hours and provides a reasonable income. It is a privileged position because you follow people's lives and are instrumental in helping them through difficult patches. You learn about families and I particularly like to treat more than one member of a family as you become part of the family support network.

What are the challenges of general practice?

I find the biggest challenge is time management. There is so much to fit into a ten minute consultation - the paperwork plus computer data collection. There seems to be more to do since computerisation. There is a higher standard required as far as data collection, to be achieved within the same time frame.

What are the things that helped you decide on a training program?

I got into medicine later in life. I had a career in a pathology laboratory prior to medicine. I did a science degree and was a rower at national level and trained for the Canadian Olympic team. I then did a masters degree in sport physiology and my mentor advsied me that I would make a good doctor and to consider medicine. My athletic career was over in my late twentys. At age twenty nine years I started my medical training course and graduated at thirty three years. After I graduated I wanted to be a generalist and not to close doors. I like the idea of staying general.

Aged thirty six years I emigrated to Australia. My degree was not accepted and I sat the AMC foreign doctors examination and the College of General Practitioners Examinations. It has been worth it as re-sitting the exams was a tremendous review and cemented my general practitioner knowledge.

Do you have any advice for young aspiring general practitioners?

Be absolutely sure you have a passion for general practice. The financial rewards are not as great as within other specialities so you do need to have an enthusiasm for it. Don't be afraid to give it a try and it is okay if its not the right thing, or you may discover it is your passion.

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