Tmc Podcast: Interviews With Medical Specialists

Dr Chris Brasher is an anaesthetics consultant who has worked extensively for Medicines Sans Frontieres (MSF). He was inspired by the calmness of anaesthetists in "coping with" and "fixing" chaotic situations. After training as a junior doctor in Melbourne, Chris flew over to the UK to complete his training out of "fear of boredom", wanting to broaden his view of the world. This led to his involvement with MSF. Chris has worked mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa and extensively in war-torn Rwanda, after the genocide. He tells many fascinating stories about the colleagues and patients he met (no spoilers here!). This includes dealing with issues rarely seen in metropolitan Australia, such as gunshot trauma, malnutrition, and tropical diseases. He described how he was able to adapt to the vastly different working conditions and available resources. Dealing with the sudden death of patients, interpersonal conflicts with staff and fear of physical safety were everpresent difficulties on the 30 missions he undertook ov