How Dr Sanka Amadoru balances the private-public mix
The question around whether to work in a private practice or the public sector is a conversation many geriatricians have. The pros and cons of each working environment are different and there’s no simple answer. Melbourne geriatrician Dr Sanka Amadoru, works across both systems, and offers a unique insight into managing a career with a foot in both camps.
Sanka started working as a consultant in 2017 and is based at Austin Health, where he works at the hospital memory clinic and the neurocognitive disorders clinical trials unit. He also does occasional ward and consults work.
When asked about the positive side of working in the public system Sanka enjoys the “diversity of patients, as well as the closer contact with medical and multidisciplinary team colleagues.”
“There are also vast opportunities to train, teach, and mentor junior doctors and students and to get involved in large-scale research and public sector projects,” says Sanka.
But there are also limitations, “It’s easier to implement change and innovation in the private sector, and continuity of care at a clinician level is not always possible,” he adds.
Sanka’s private practice work focusses on comprehensive geriatric assessments in clinics and residential care but he doesn’t do private inpatient work. As a joint founder of the private practice Aria Health, Sanka says that “this has been very rewarding in that we have addressed significant gaps in geriatrician service provision in metropolitan Melbourne and rural Victorian communities, and have made a positive difference at scale.”
“The learning curve in running a practice has been steep, but the challenge has been worthwhile,” he says.
More recently he has developed an interest in digital health, exploring how this is relevant to our older community members.
In his private practice work Sanka enjoys the clinical autonomy and direct patient involvement it offers, but also points out that “you do all the clinical work yourself”. While the other big advantage is that “clinical continuity allows for developing lasting therapeutic relationships with patients and longitudinal learning, and there is the space to focus on community work.”
“It can be professionally isolating in some private settings, so we have made a deliberate effort to maintain a collegial culture in our private practice. This means we get to support and learn from each other as early-to-mid career consultants, and leverage each others’ strengths.” says Sanka.
As a geriatrician working in both public and private systems, Sanka feels he gets the best of both worlds, “It can be synergistic for patient care across systems, especially when building relationships with GPs and community providers,“ says Sanka.
For trainees who are thinking about working across the two settings, Sanka says “it’s important to think about what you would like your life to look like, and then work out how your work commitments will fit with that”.
He flags time management as crucial in balancing the two different work settings, with travel between sessions in different locations a challenge as well as availability in multiple part-time workplaces.
“Be careful not to overcommit your time. If it is something you want to pursue, talk to consultants who work only in one setting, and across both!”.
Image Courtesy: Aria Health
