BRHS Surgical Registrar Kelvin Cheung is about to take a major new step in his career, to a place in a prestigious national surgical training program that will take him away from East Gippsland.
But he says he’ll miss two things about his time with BRHS – the amazing breadth of surgical experience he has gathered here, and East Gippsland’s vibrant gourmet food culture.
Kevin came to BRHS in February on a 12-month rotation from Eastern Health with his wife Truc Walsh, a pharmacist with the hospital. He and Truc will leave again in February next year after Kelvin’s successful application to join the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons’ five-year Surgical Education and Training program.
It’s the first time a BRHS registrar has successfully joined the program, which will allow him to become a fully qualified surgeon. It speaks volumes about the experience he has gained in just six months with BRHS.
“I’m very excited. It’s something you work towards. The criteria involved – the research, presentations, teaching, and completing additional degrees and masters. It’s a long process, but I am very excited,” he said.
Kelvin spoke highly of the wide variety of cases he’s tackled at BRHS – cases he would not be exposed to at a big city hospital.
“I have really enjoyed it here. There’s a variety of cases here that is different from Eastern Health or anywhere in the city,” he said.
OPPORTUNITY FOR EXPERIENCE
Surgeons in training in the city tend to get streamed into a specialist area, but Kelvin said he has experienced surgery under careful supervision at BRHS he may never have seen in a city setting.
“In the city, it’s more specialised. You’ve got colorectal surgery, upper GI (gastro-intestinal), bariatric surgery, breast and endocrine surgery. There are different specialised teams, but here you do a bit of everything, a lot of general surgical cases.
“Hernia repairs, gall bladder operations, cystectomies, appendectomies and endoscopies. Surgery for lacerations and toenail repairs are performed by a plastic surgery team in the city, we do not get to see those cases.
“The surgeons here are very nice, and have a variety of skills. It’s really good to learn from the procedures I don’t normally see.”
GREAT TRAINING ENVIRONMENT
BRHS Acting Director Medical Services Dr Lindy Washington said her team is thrilled that Kelvin is the first BRHS registrar accepted to the program. She said it showed that BRHS provides a great surgical training environment.
“The quality of surgical training provided by our general surgery team and our visiting surgery specialists is very high. The variety of cases that Kevin can participate in, and the one-on-one supervision he gets to increase his level of experience and independence as a training surgeon is excellent” she said.
“And he’s able to see patients both on the wards before and after surgery, and in the consulting rooms to follow them up.”
Apart from his surgical experience at BRHS, Kelvin – a self-declared foodie – said he will miss all the fine dining East Gippsland has to offer.
GREAT EAST GIPPSLAND DINING
“Food is a big thing here. I love the food here! We eat out every week, basically. Before I came here, I was expecting to go back to Melbourne every weekend because I thought I would miss the food, but I haven’t been back much because there’s a lot of great food here,” he said.
“Arturo’s Latin Cuisine and Sardine Dining in Paynesville. The Metung Hotel. Sodafish in Lakes Entrance and the Criterion in Sale. We have been exploring all the towns.”
Kelvin said he is contemplating future career options including part-time surgical work balanced with a teaching or research role. “I am thinking of rural surgery as well. It’s quite different, and I’m really enjoying it. I’m definitely thinking about it,” he said.
That’s why Kelvin’s success means a lot to BRHS and other regional health agencies, Lindy said.
“We hope that trainees who are accepted onto the surgical training program and have a rural-based experience will in their future career want to provide rural-based service or even move back and provide full-time surgery to a rural community. That’s why this is important for not only BRHS, but the East Gippsland community,” she said.
