What was the highlight of your Fellowship?
Spending quality time with (and learning a great deal from) so many wonderful
people. Having the opportunity to exchange ideas with iron researchers, blood
management specialists and other "like-minded" people
was priceless! Finding out "what works and what doesn't" within wellestablished
anaemia clinics and hospital-wide blood management programs has been particularly
useful. The Mount St Helen's area and my 2000+km coastal drive from Seattle
to LA via Sacramento and San Francisco was a very scenic way to link my western
US visits...
Tell us the funniest thing that happened to you while you were away?
My 200km taxi ride to Bangor, Maine (paid for by Delta after they cancelled
a crucial flight) with an Ethiopian driver who didn't speak English. He was
a lovely man, but if I hadn't been able to show him a map I'd saved on my laptop
we might have ended up in Canada!
How have you made a difference since your return?
Our "snowball" is gaining momentum! Mounting literature evidence,
the efforts of WA Patient Blood Management Program colleagues and my Churchill
Fellowship experiences are all being put to good use. Educational materials
development ("Iron Myths" poster series, pharmacist continuing
education modules, other writing) is proceeding slowly but surely. Presentations
to pharmacy, medical and nursing audiences and my clinical pharmacist work at
Royal Perth Hospital are helping us to "build blood without blood" for "more
patients, more of the time". We ran an ICU "Transfusion Awareness
Week" in November, which included presentation of our transfusion and blood
sampling audit results. An ICU anaemia and iron audit will begin in September.
Our plan is to develop this into an Australian ICU blood management research
project. There's more, but that's enough from me!
What words of encouragement would you say to a 2011 Fellow?
Your work is important. Don't be shy - get out there and make the most of every
opportunity. Be well-prepared for each Fellowship visit and try to give back
a little knowledge in return. The "gurus" in any field are usually
the most amazing and inspiring people. They're often quite generous with their
time and happy to recommend little "side visits" along the way to
people or places you may not have considered. Try to allow a little "breathing
space" in your program so you can take up some of these offers or just "recharge" for
your next visit.
What was the highlight of your Fellowship?
The highlight of my fellowship was experiencing New York as the guest of the New York Police
Department. I had the opportunity to work closely with officers from the Special Victims Unit for a week and I was able to see a side of the city that is probably not experienced by many outsiders. I shared a beer with many officers who worked at “ground zero” throughout the 9/11 tragedy, all of whom lost friends and colleagues, and I was truly moved by the experience.
Tell us the funniest thing that happened to you while you were away?
While working with the FBI in Anchorage, Alaska, I responded to an incident where a moose had become inebriated by eating fermented apples and then been entangled in Christmas decorations in the main street! That’s when you know you are no longer in Australia!
How have you made a difference since your return?
My report and recommendations were fully endorsed and implemented by WA Police on my return. While in some instances the recommendations appeared relatively minor or procedural, they have each been responsible for improving the response to child abuse throughout the State. Sometimes it is the little changes that make the biggest difference for individual children.
What words of encouragement would you say to a 2011 Fellow?
The Churchill Fellowship is an amazing opportunity, embrace it and try and get the most from the experience!