I’m one of the three admin staff sharing the usual duties in a busy plastic surgery practice. I’ve been working at AR Plastic surgery since 2008, but prior to that I was also working for Plastic Surgeon Dr Peter Catt since 1990, so 25 years in the industry! Needless to I’ve enjoyed my career and it’s certainly been one of constant change.
I suppose you could call my particular role one of patient coordinator, I am often a patient’s first contact with our practice via phone inquiries and more recently web based inquiries. Once the patient has seen Dr Cheng for their initial consultation, I generally spend a great deal of time discussing the relevant procedures and the cost, recovery information and theatre arrangements ad options with our patients. I love this part of my job and feel I have the experience and knowledge to assist with their concerns and hopefully make them feel more relaxed as they consider and proceed to surgery.
The challenge for me is to ensure all the stars are aligned for the weekly operating lists to run smoothly. This requires considerable organisation involving lots of paperwork, phone and email liaison with patients, other surgeries, hospitals, health funds and on occasion government departments and insurance companies.
The most rewarding part of my job is assisting with arranging the final stage surgery for our breast reconstruction patients who are at the ‘good’ end of their cancer journey. There is always a degree of excitement and sometimes tears of joy, all round!
My weekends are usually spent catching up with family and friends. I feel very thankful to have had such a long and enjoyable career in plastic surgery.
I can’t imagine myself doing anything else now, but if I wasn’t working at ARPS I’d probably be working in the travel industry, which is where I worked prior to starting a family in the early 80′s.