On The Wards: On The Pods Medical Podcast for Doctors onthewards.org

In this podcast, Eloise Sobels talks to Dr Josh Case about the intersection of medicine and software, but more broadly about the benefits of walking a different path to those conventionally bestowed upon junior doctors.



Summary Writer:  Jenny Wei

Script Writer:  Eloise Sobels

Editor:  Eloise Sobels

Interviewee:  Josh Case

Interviewer:  Eloise Sobels


About Dr Josh Case
Along with being a doctor, Josh is also a software developer who hopes to empower other doctors and medical students to build new software, even those without a background in technology. Josh is passionate about making the world’s hospitals safer and more efficient, and teaching clinicians how to code.


About Dr Eloise Sobels
Eloise is a Junior Doctors based in New South Wales, Australia.  Before embarking on her Medical degree, she completed an undergraduate in Medical Science (Hons) from Flinders University and worked in a Clinical Pathology Laboratory testing and reporting on blood results. Ellie has a passion for team-based medical care and is currently working on research into Multidisciplinary Team based care for End-Stage-Kidney-Disease patients. Ellie is an avid dog lover and enjoys any beach related activity.

In this podcast Elie Matar talks with Robert Gerber, a leading Interventional Cardiologist, about the benefits of locum work .



Summary Writer:  Theoni Haralabopoulos

Script Writer:  Elie Matar

Interviewee:  Robert Gerber

Interviewer:  Elie Matar


About Dr Robert Gerber
Dr Robert Gerber graduated from Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’ Medical School which is part of King’s College London in 2000. He holds dual accreditation in Cardiology and General Internal Medicine. He currently works in Wangaratta North Eastern Health as a Physician and General Cardiologist and in Bendigo Health as an Interventional Cardiologist. He has expertise in hypertension and heart failure as well as heart rhythm disturbances and dyslipidaemia.

Bob is an expert in the field of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) guided stent implantation and is also trained in implanting pacemakers and implantable cardio-defibrillators (ICDs) as well as coronary stents. He has maintained his credentialing by performing these procedures on a regular basis in Australia and New Zealand.

Bob has performed over 2000 cardiac procedures over a 25-year career in Cardiology and General Internal Medicine in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom where he maintains and holds accreditation. In his spare time, he enjoys cycling, trail-running and time with the family.


About Dr Elie Matar
Dr Elie Matar is a Neurology Advanced Trainee and a NHMRC postgraduate scholar based in Sydney, Australia. He is a Clinical Lecturer with the University of Sydney and has a strong passion for medical education and clinical research. Having co-founded a hospital clinical redesign committee, Elie believes junior doctors have an important responsibility in pioneering innovation to improve the healthcare systems within which they work.

In this podcast Chris Elliot speaks with Paediatric Rheumatologist, Rebecca James, about the development of the concept 'Patient Design Thinking' and why it has such profound impacts on the delivery of care no matter which specialty.



Summary Writer:  Eloise Sobels

Script Writer:  Eloise Sobels

Interviewee:  Rebecca James

Interviewer:  Chris Elliot


About Dr Rebecca James
Dr Rebecca James is a Paediatric Rheumatologist and Healthcare Improvement Fellow at Queensland Children’s Hospital. She completed her paediatric training at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, before moving to the UK for extended fellowships in several London hospitals and later to work as a consultant at St Thomas'. She returned to Australia in 2018 and completed a Healthcare Improvement Fellowship through Clinical Excellence QLD in 2021. She is interested in healthcare quality and safety, particularly how health services engage with patients in service design and provision, as well as issues around access to care and medications, both domestically and globally.


About Dr Chris Elliot
Chris is a Consultant Paediatrician who works in a teaching hospital in Sydney and in private rooms. As well as clinical medicine he is enthusiastic about health communication and teaching. Chris is a Conjoint Lecturer for the University of New South Wales and writes the occasional article on child health for mainstream media. He also teaches Advanced Paediatric Life Support and sits on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health. Chris completed his Internship at Bankstown Hospital and Paediatric training through the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network. On the days when he is not at work he enjoys playing with his children, and also when they play by themselves.

In this podcast, James Edwards talks to Dr Carolyn Hullick and Professor Simon Finfer about the new, national Sepsis Clinical Care Standard, recently introduced to ensure that a patient presenting with signs and symptoms of sepsis receives optimal care, from symptom onset through to discharge from hospital and survivorship care.

Interviewer:  James Edwards

Interviewees:  Carolyn Hullick and Simon Finfer

Summary Writer:  Michelle Wu

Editor:  Nicola Bunt


About Dr Carolyn Hullick
Dr Carolyn Hullick is a Clinical Director at the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care and Emergency Physician at Hunter New England Health NSW.

At the Commission, Carolyn has guided the National Sepsis Program and chaired the Sepsis Clinical Care Standard Topic Working Group. Other projects focus on aged care, transitions of care, appropriate use of antipsychotics, and comprehensive care. As an Emergency physician Carolyn has a special interest in geriatric medicine, and as a Harkness Fellow, spent 12 months at Weill Cornell Medical School in New York, investigating care for older people in emergency departments.


About Professor Simon Finfer AO
Professor Simon Finfer AO is a Professorial Fellow in the Critical Care Division at The George Institute for Global Health, Adjunct Professor, University of New South Wales and Chair of Critical Care, School of Public Health, Imperial College London.

Simon was a founding member and is a past-Chair of the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society (ANZICS) Clinical Trials Group, past chair of the International Sepsis Forum, and current Vice President of the Global Sepsis Alliance. He is Director of the Australian Sepsis Network and Asia Pacific Sepsis Alliance. Simon was appointed an Officer (AO) in the Order of Australia in 2020 for “distinguished service to intensive care medicine, to medical research and education, and to global health institutes”.

In this podcast interview Tom Ayton speaks with Olympic Javelin thrower, Mackenzie Little, about how being an athlete can make you be a better medical student and doctor.



Summary Writer:  Michelle Wu

Script Writer:  Tom Ayton

Editor:  Tom Ayton

Interviewee:  Mackenzie Little

Interviewer:  Tom Ayton


About Mackenzie Little
Mackenzie Little is a 24 year old medical student and an Australian Olympic javelin thrower. She received her Bachelors degree from Stanford University and is now going into her 3rd year at the University of Sydney. She was the World Youth Champion in 2013, is a two time finalist at the World University Games, and most recently threw a personal best and placed 8th at the Tokyo Olympics (in the middle of oncology block!). She's looking forward to Commonwealth Games and World Championships in 2022, and being a junior doctor by the time the Paris Olympics come around in 2024.


About Dr Tom Ayton
Dr Tom Ayton is an Ophthalmology Registrar at Sydney Eye Hospital, Sydney, Australia. He is from Albany in Western Australia and has a background in exercise physiology and sport. During his postgraduate medical training Tom became interested in medical education, which he completed his course research in, as well as medical student teaching and Junior Medical Officer advocacy. Tom loves the beach, keeping healthy and is a very poor surfer.

In this Human Factors in Medicine podcast, Abhi Pal speaks with Khairil Musa about the realities of working in Humanitarian Medicine and on the field, the invaluable life lessons he gained from his experience, and ways in which we can deal with trauma and burnout.



Summary Writer:  Jenny Wei

Script Writer:  Abhi Pal

Editor:  Abhi Pal

Interviewee:  Khairil Musa

Interviewer:  Abhi Pal


About Dr Khairil Musa
Khairil Musa is a Senior Intensive Care Registrar from Royal North Shore Hospital and an ICU Field Doctor with Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Khairil was deployed to Yemen and Iraq in 2020 as part of MSF’s COVID19 response and also worked in MSF’s Trauma Hospital in Aden. In his downtime Khairil is a great enthusiast of the performing arts and is the Creative Lead for the SMACC/CODA Conference opening ceremonies.


About Dr Abhi Pal
Abhi Pal is a Medical Oncology Staff Specialist at Liverpool Hospital, Sydney, Australia.  In his non-existent spare time he is completing a part time PhD through Sydney University in informed consent and clinical ethics during communication with patients with advanced cancer. He has a strong interest in drug development, clinical trials, communication and also in hospital culture, burnout and doctor welfare.