Spinning Gold from Straw: How trauma transformed a Doctor’s Life and Practice.

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Dr Bruce Whelan, a Gold Coast specialist GP, has been in Practice for 45 years. His specialties are pain management, addiction & cancer medicine. Dr Whelan says Only the wounded physician can help to heal. Defining the difference between healing and curing is important in understanding the complexities of recovery from illness. Dr Whelan frames this within his own life story when in October 2002 he became personally involved in the aftermath of the Bali bombing that killed 202 people. He describes the impact on his family & resultant PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) he suffered. However, after his recovery, he returned to medicine with new insights and understanding having been through a dark night of the soul experience. This is an inspiring & timely interview for anyone in recovery from any malady.

Guest Info – Dr Bruce Whelan

A graduate of the University of Queensland School of Medicine 1967, Dr Bruce Whelan has been in general practice since 1971. He has worked in challenging rural Australia practise environments including indigenous health. With 45 years experience, his ethic is treating the whole person using the best of modern psychology and general psychiatry in combination with the best of modern medicine. His special areas of interest are general psychiatry, drug addiction medicine, pain management and issues related to cancer medicine.

Personal involvement with the Bali bombings in 2002 made an impact of his life and practice leading to his interest in psychiatry. He has been involved with teaching medical students at Bond and Griffith Medical Schools Gold Coast Australia and adds to his deeply inquiring mind and differential diagnosis skills, an artistic side, enjoying oil painting; in particular still life flowers and vases. Dr Whelan lives on a yacht and loves fishing, classical music and life!

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