Reflections on the Australasian Doctors’ Health Conference 2025
This November I attended the Australasian Doctors’ Health Conference 2025 for the first time and it was a wonderful coming together of like-minds. It is a biannual conference and the last time it was scheduled, I had a clash with a much anticipated nativity play and missed the gathering.
I arrived early for a pre-conference workshop by Dr Paul Taylor on the Hardiness Advantage. It was a research filled 3 hour presentation with lots of evidence of how we can grow our hardiness (rather than using the term resilience) and the advantages of this skillset in life.
Day 1 of the conference was packed full of over 39 short presentations. The theme of the conference was People, Peers and Places and talks were streamed into these 3 topics. I particularly enjoyed the Places stream and heard of organisation and state wide successes in South Australia and Western Australia. Dr Alison Robinson from SALHD, Adelaide, SA, shared about the staff-driven wellbeing plan to strengthen and sustain the workforce. It was encouraging to hear Schwartz Rounds were part of the initiative. Dr Jon Chan, a fellow Rehabilitation Physician based in Fiona Stanley Hospital, Perth, WA, talked about his role as Chief Wellbeing Practitioner, leading a hospital network program with over 200 people on the Wellbeing Committee. This is a big scale initiative and is very inspiring in the approach to reach so many practitioners at different levels of their careers. What inspired me most was the Doctor Support Unit Charter “Working as one team for doctors” which includes Listening, Wellbeing, Robust feedback mechanisms, Rosters, Overtime, Flexibility, Leave and Education.
In the afternoon, I attended the plenary by Dr Cheryl Martin on Wellbeing 2.0: the Australasian Context. A richly informative talk with one of the main takeaways sharing 5 fundamentals for wellbeing from the Doctors in Distress blog by Dr Anna Baverstock and Dr Jess Morgan. See image below.
To round out the day, I delivered the plenary on “The Healing Impact of Schwartz Rounds in Healthcare”, chaired by Dr Ameeta Patel, Chair at Doctors’ Health NSW. We have been running monthly Schwartz Rounds, a social and emotional wellbeing forum for hospital-wide staff, for over a year at Bathurst Health Service, and have measured the impact with post-attendance surveys. Qualitative analysis revealed key themes of enhanced empathy, improved communication, and reduced feelings of isolation among staff. Participants frequently reported gaining new insights into the perspectives of coworkers, fostering a more empathetic environment. Quantitatively, 79% of respondents strongly agreed that the rounds provided new insights. 87% of participants strongly agreed that Schwartz Rounds increased their openness with colleagues.
Finally on the last day, we heard from Dr Tabitha Healey, why every doctor deserves a coach, and the evidence for why coaching helps in healthcare. I am part of the Doctors Who Coach Doctors Australasian network and we rounded out the conference with a very enjoyable lunch together.
The final presentation was from Dr Leanne Rowe AM, and it was a very powerful talk on the high-risk environment of healthcare from a physical, psychological and professional standpoint. With the new Work Health and Safety laws in place, it is imperative that employers uphold their legal obligations to safeguard both the physical and mental well-being of clinicians. Leanne finished the conference empowering all in the audience to cultivate a medical culture that supports and nurtures our brilliant careers.
I’m grateful to have been able to attend this conference where there truly is a sense of shift in the priority of healthcare professional wellbeing. Many thanks for this thoughtful gift from the team at Doctors Health Alliance, created by Dr Ameeta Patel.
