ANZCA Bulletin - June 2009 - Australian and New Zealand College ...

feature: In the fieldSounds of Canadaby Dr Gavin PattulloFrom left: Dr Gavin Pattullo and hiswife Venessa at Lake Louise; relaxinglakeside in Ontario; Dr Pattullosnowboarding the Rockies; Dr Pattullowaiting for patients in the block room;Dr Colin McCartney demonstratesto a Fellow.Before starting this article I mustfirst make a disclaimer. I have nomisconceptions about my own lack ofphilosophical insight. This being the case,I do feel at liberty to make the followingcomment: life does take unexpected twistsand turns, some bad and some good.For my wife and me the “bad” was herdiagnosis of acute leukaemia three weeksbefore our wedding. The “good” was herremission with chemotherapy and thenthe profound realisations that developwith such an experience. For some, theserealisations may have already surfaced;for others, particularly when caught up inthe world of training and career building,they may be otherwise suppressed. Theserealisations are the type that mean whenyour wife is offered an opportunity toundertake PhD research with a worldleader – but in another country – you donot hesitate to drop everything and go.So that is the background to howI found myself heading to Toronto foran 18-month fellowship in general andregional anaesthesia. Well, admittedly,that is not the full story. Having alreadycompleted a Pain Fellowship and workedas a staff specialist for a couple of years therewas some reluctance to go “backwards”,as it were. I toyed (very briefly) with theidea of employment as a barista in thesummer and then spending the winterssnowboarding. But if you have ever triedNorth American coffee you will know alltoo well that their coffee standards do notdemand the services of a barista. But worsethan that; there are no mountains withincooee of Toronto, so take snowboardingoff the list of options.I chose Sunnybrook Hospital for myfellowship because of its strength inultrasound guided regional anaesthesiaand its reputation as being a great placeto work. The fact that its name made itsound like a retirement home was onlya little disconcerting.In Sunnybrook I found a dedicatedand cohesive team of staff anaesthetists,numbering close to 40 and most workingfull-time. The ultrasound guided regionalanaesthesia largely takes place ata dedicated upper and lower limborthopaedic hospital situated in downtownToronto. This location utilises a large blockroom where all patients are prepared forthe four operating rooms. The benefitof this design is that it results in a34The ANZCA Bulletin June 2009