‘If you could put a message on a billboard, to be seen by millions (or billions) of people, what would you say?’
I was lucky enough to have an opportunity to answer this in real life when a journalist from Coles contacted me. They wanted to know a GPs views on Men’s Health. The article we produced is here (and reproduced below). This is in the Coles Health and Beauty magazine – they have printed 500,000 copies of this! What was that one message I wanted to get across?
A boy born in Australia in 2010 has a life expectancy of 78.0 years while a baby girl born at the same time could expect to live to 82.3 years old. Right from the start, boys suffer more illness, more accidents and die earlier than their female counterparts.
Men take their own lives at four times the rate of women (that’s five men a day, on average). Accidents, cancer and heart disease all account for the majority of male deaths.
Seven leading causes are common to both males and females, although only Ischaemic heart disease shares the same ranking in both sexes (1st). Malignant neoplasms of prostate (6th), Malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (7th) and Intentional self-harm (10th) are only represented within the male top 10 causes.
Smoking, Skin Cancer, Suicide, and So Much Alcohol
The above figures are taken from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Furthermore, there are specific populations of marginalised men with far worse health statistics. These marginalised groups include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men, refugees, men in prison or newly released from prison and men of low socioeconomic standing.
Men’s Health Week has a direct focus on the health impacts of men’s and boys’ environments. It serves to ask two questions:
What factors in men’s and boy’s environments contribute to the status of male health as indicated in the table above?
How can we turn that around and create positive environments in men’s and boy’s lives?
We’re going to ask and answer those questions this week. Stay with us online and in person – we’ve got your back!
Dr Gareth completed his undergraduate medical studies in Auckland and all of his post-graduate training has been in Adelaide. His medical areas of interest include:
babies and kids (neonates and paediatrics)
emergency medicine,
chronic disease management
palliative care
Outside of work Dr Gareth enjoys cycling, skiing, and photography.
He is a GP Palliative Shared Care Provider, as are Dr Tellis and Dr Mouktaroudis. We’ll let Dr Gareth explain this:
What is palliative care?
Palliative care is holistic care of people with life-limiting illnesses. Holistic care means we focus on them, not their illness!
Their goals and ambitions
Their mental, physical, and spiritual well-being
Their symptoms
Their dignity
We provide care in the community and co-ordinate service providers. We support patients and their families to maintain quality of life and achieve the outcomes important to them.
This means that the GPs at Partridge Street General Practice are teaching the Doctors and Medical Students who will be the future of medicine in Australia. It’s a big responsibility and a privilege we take very seriously.
Award Winning Responsibility!
All of our doctors here at Partridge Street General Practice are fully qualified ‘Fellows’ holding a specialist qualification with either the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (FRACGP) or the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (FACRRM) or both (3-4 years of full time study and 3 exams on top of an undergraduate university medical degree and supervised trainee ‘intern’ year in a hospital) or are studying towards these qualifications. This is our minimum specialist standard and we may have other qualifications and skills.
Our Fellows provide supervision and advice to our Registrars and you may find that they are called in to consult with the Registrar on your case. ‘Registrars’ are qualified doctors who have completed their hospital training and are now embarking on their General Practice training. Some may already have other qualifications in medical or other fields.
We also supervise and teach Medical Students from Flinders University. They are still studying to become doctors. All of us – Fellows, Registrars, and Medical Students – make up the Clinical Team here at Partridge Street General Practice with our excellent Practice Nurses. We all uphold the highest standards of privacy, confidentiality, professionalism, and clinical practice.
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