Your Family Doctor: Here For You

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) Family Doctor Week aims to highlight "the role of GPs – our family doctors – and their value to the community and the health system as they deliver high-quality holistic health care".

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) "Australia has one of the best health systems in the world" with its strength lying in the general practice and the incredible role of the general practitioners play in our lives.

GPs are the first port of call when we're feeling unwell, with 2 million of us seeing a GP each week.1 98 per cent of us return to the same practice, and 78 per cent of patients have a prefered usual GP.2 For most of us then, our GP is a pivotal part of our families health and wellbeing support team.

Hawthorne Clinic's long-standing history of providing you, your families, and the local community with trusted health care, tailored to the individual needs of every patient, is driven by our mission to be 'here for you'.

We all know how important our family doctor is to us, but what does being a GP mean to your doctor?

We asked our team of GP's to tell us in a few words what being 'here for you' is all about.

Dr Carmen Main

"I love treating the whole family. I think continuity of care is so important and having a good relationship with my patients and their family members enables me to manage their health completely. I feel blessed to know and to treat multiple generations of the one family”

Dr Sarah Gillman

"Being a GP means having the privilege to get to know and try to help many people and their families as we grow older together."

Dr Patricia O'Connor

"It's a privilege to care for people on their life's journey. We can share their joys and sorrows. At times I have cared for 5 generations of a family - maybe the essence of being a 'family doctor'. We hope to bring skill, care and empathy to our interactions, and also humour - for laughter is indeed the best medicine."

Dr Yasumitsu Takao

"I enjoy being GP because I can treat people of various age, culture and background. As GP I want to help improve the health of my patients not just physically but mentally and socially. I think having regular GP and prevention are very important."

Dr Giuseppe Pagliaro

"General practitioners are uniquely placed not only to educate and heal but to lubricate human relations, to be attentive and not dismissive, to regard each of those who seek our advice as individuals with unique sensitivities despite them often bringing their tensions and scepticism with them into the consulting room. An immense privilege to be trusted repeatedly by so many, in my case for so many years."

Dr Monica Steel

"I am so lucky to be able to do a job I love, where every day is different and challenging, and every patient unique, while surrounded by colleagues that make it much more enjoyable."

Family Doctor Week will run from Sunday 22 July to Saturday 28 July 2018 with 'Your family doctor: here for you' as the theme for this year’s event.

1. RACGP

2. https://ama.com.au/family-doctor-week-2018