Dr Vin Pushpalingam
Dr Vinod Pushpalingam, who goes by Vin or Vinnie, was born in Malaysia and moved to Australia in 1980. Following his schooling, he pursued medicine and graduated from The University of Western Australia in 1997. After completing his internship and early years at Royal Perth Hospital, Vin spent four years at the now Perth Children’s Hospital before having a change of heart while completing a rural placement at an Aboriginal Medical Service in Kalgoorlie as a part of his general practice training. Vin went on to complete his advanced skill in Anaesthetics at Joondalup Health Campus in 2007 before continuing his rural generalist career in Broome, Derby, Kununurra and Karratha. After working across the state’s north, Vin moved to the South West region and settled in Busselton in 2009 where he worked across primary care, aged and palliative care, emergency medicine and anaesthetics. Vin passionately believes in the benefits of rural generalism, not only for the community, but also for personal job satisfaction. Vin recently commenced in the role of the RGPWA Director of Rural Generalist Training based in Perth and will continue to work clinically in the Busselton Hospital Emergency Department. You can read more about Vin in the interview below.
When did you get your first taste of rural work?
I guess my first taste of rural work happened after I changed track as a paediatrics registrar and went overseas for work in an isolated rural community treating tuberculosis in Ethiopia. I had started out thinking I would live and work in Perth, but after that experience I decided I wanted a broad range of skills and the country seemed like the best place. I commenced GP training and worked for 12 months at the Aboriginal Medical Service in Kalgoorlie before coming back to Perth to complete 12 months of anaesthetics advanced skill training at Joondalup. At that time, my career path had been self-navigated through speaking to other country doctors, who were supportive and encouraging.
Is there a certain temperament that suits being a rural generalist?
Rural generalists tend to be versatile, adaptable and able to work in a variety of different and, at times, challenging environments. There is no one fit for rural generalists, as there will be some who prefer primary care, but are happy to support their local Emergency Department (ED) and provide aged and palliative care, or those who prefer a more critical care slant. The wide geographic difference of WA lends itself to a wide variety of different skill sets.
When you’re not at work, what do you do with your free time?
When not at work, I try to spend time with my wife and two girls. I have tried to get a better work life balance (though this has always been a challenge for me). I cycle (minus the lycra) and do enjoy a good book or Netflix series. Every second week I still work in the Busselton Hospital Emergency Department as I feel the mix of clinical and central office work allows a good balance for my work brain.
What is unique about the region you work in?
Busselton, when I arrived in 2009, was still a relatively small town, but over the last sixteen years, it has grown and has a good mixture of primary care and acute medicine that can provide good training for future rural generalists. The South West attraction speaks for itself, whether your passion is for the outdoors, or surf or art and culture, there are lots of options for families.
If you weren’t a doctor, what would you have done for a career?
If I wasn’t a doctor, I would have liked to be an architect. I love Grand Designs and still dream of designing my own home one day.
If you could meet anyone in the world dead or alive, who would that be and why?
If I could meet anyone in the world, I would love to invite them to the ultimate dinner party cooked by Heston Blumenthal with Elon Musk, Julie Bishop and Sacha Baron Cohen as my guests.
Photo: Dr Vin Pushpalingam