Our consultants stories

Dr Peter Bailey

Emergency Medicine is highly stimulating for any medical practitioner. You never know what condition is going to come through the door. The Emergency Physician is a generalist with skills of all specialties, from paediatrics to aged care, from trauma to public health and many more. It is the only specialty where you are continuously prioritising your work and at the end of your shift you will be very satisfied with the work. Our Specialty is rapidly developing all around the world and it is very exciting to be part of this development.

Dr Peter Bailey, Emergency Physician

Dr Andrew Casamento

I began my medical career as an Intern in 1997 at ‘The Old PANCH’ - the Preston And Northcote Community Hospital in Bell St, Preston. This was the precursor hospital to The Northern Hospital. In 1998 the doors were closed and the hospital and staff were moved to the new Northern Hospital at its current location in Epping.

I have spent the majority of my medical career at The Northern Hospital (TNH), spending some time working with most of the different specialty units, including paediatrics, plastics and orthopaedics and completing a Diploma of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. However, most of my time at TNH has been dedicated to training for my dual specialities, Emergency Medicine and Intensive Care Medicine. Apart from spending two and a half years of my accredited training time at other hospitals to gain experience, all of my training has been completed at TNH.

TNH has an exceptional amount to offer interns and potential advanced trainees in a number of different specialties. Firstly, there is an extraordinary amount of experience to be gained working at TNH. The emergency department is one of the busiest in the state with up to 70,000 presentations per year and an interesting case mix that allows for experience in acute and subacute medicine, as well as a very high case load of paediatric patients. There are a wide variety of trauma presentations, keeping the plastic and orthopaedic units extremely busy. The cardiology unit has grown rapidly over the past few years and our second cardiac catheterisation lab is currently being built. There has also been growth in the number of subspecialty units for which TNH has been given accreditation for advanced training including Infectious Disease, Endocrinology, Oncology, Intensive Care, Gastroenterology, Respiratory Medicine as well as a number of surgical subspecialties.

Secondly, TNH staff are enthusiastic and very involved in teaching. I found many doctors around the hospital invaluable to my training and they were obviously crucial in helping me pass my specialty exams. There is weekly teaching for interns and HMOs which I believe to be very helpful for all who attend.

One final thing TNH offers that tertiary hospitals do not is a sense of a local community. The Northern is obviously smaller than other hospitals and because of this there is a lot of interaction between the various units around the hospital. This makes work more enjoyable as you tend to know most other medical, nursing and allied health staff. It also makes referrals a lot easier because you often personally know who you are referring to.

Overall, I would strongly recommend working at The Northern. I feel it is a fantastic place to work, which will support a great clinical experience, and our fabulous staff will make you feel welcome.

Andrew Casamento MBBS FACEM FCICM

Dr Herman Chiu

Working in Emergency Medicine means you will be a shift worker and not a 9-5pm worker. This has a lot of lifestyle advantages and when you finish your shift, you can leave all your work behind. It allows me to enjoy my hobbies during the week when there are less crowds around.

Emergency Medicine has also allowed me to travel the world during my training  - emergency doctors are in demand all over the western world. There are also many opportunities to assist in developing the specialty all around the world.

Dr Herman Chiu, Emergency Physician

Dr Elmo Mariampillai

I first started at the Northern Hospital as an Intern, spending my first six months here. Since then, I have spent half my second year, all my 3rd year as a Critical Care HMO and some time during my Anaesthesia training. Despite having exposure to many different hospitals during my training, the Northern Hospital was the place I most wanted to come back to as a Consultant.

The Northern Hospital is a unique place to work and train. It is a very busy tertiary hospital, but maintains the feel, atmosphere and good aspects of a community hospital.  I would recommend the Northern Hospital as an excellent hospital to begin your medical career. It is very supportive, has a focus on teaching and provides a wide variety of medical experiences. 

Dr Elmo Mariampillai, Consultant