Writer
Kerry Goulston
Dr Kerry Goulston AO is a retired physician and gastroenterologist. Past positions have included Associate Dean, Northern Clinical School of the University of Sydney, Royal North Shore Hospital and Inaugural Chair of the Postgraduate Medical Council of Australia and New Zealand.
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“Forever Learning”: the Hoc Mai medical exchange program, 1998-2024
During the 1990’s Associate Professor Phillip Yuile of Sydney University visited Vietnam many times, helping hospitals to establish Radiotherapy there. In 1998 he met with Professor Ton That Bach the Dean of Hanoi Medical University (HMU) who subsequently invited me to visit Hanoi with a view to establishing a connection with postgraduate medical education in Australia, specifically Sydney Medical Continue reading »
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We need an Australian Healthcare Reform Commission
With a new Government it is time for Health System Reform. In fact reform is long over due. Continue reading »
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Should procedural specialists be the highest earning doctors in the nation?
Data shows that procedural specialist doctors earn more per year than many other professionals in Australia and that the highest earning doctors in Australia are surgeons and anaesthetists, earning almost twice what general practitioners (GPs) earn. Why is this so and can it be justified? Continue reading »
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‘Our Malady’ by Timothy Snyder: Lessons for Australia in health care
While this is a book about American healthcare, it raises issues that are relevant to Australia. Written earlier this year, many issues facing current healthcare – both in hospitals and in the community – are discussed. Continue reading »
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Out-of-pocket medical financial abuse
Charging unjustifiable and unreasonable fees leading to very high out-of-pocket expenses for specialist medical care is an abuse of power and should be called financial abuse. It should also be deemed a form of professional misconduct. Continue reading »
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PART 2: Review of the Medicare Benefits scheme
The Medical Benefits Schedule [MBS ] Review Taskforce was established in June 2015 by Sussan Ley, then Federal Minister for Health. It followed feedback from clinicians and the broader community that certain items on the MBS did not reflect clinical best practice and in some cases were creating distortions in services provided. Continue reading »
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PART 1: Review of the Medicare Benefits scheme
The first part of this piece describes the blockages in the past that choked debate on some fundamental issues. The second part outlines some of the important achievements of the current Medical Benefits Scheme Review Taskforce and set up the basis for sustainable debate about the future of Medicare. Continue reading »
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Why not commemorate the Frontier Wars in the Australian War Memorial?
As an Australian schoolchild I learnt the history of England, including a long list of English Kings, but nothing at all about the Frontier Wars here in Australia or indeed the history of our Indigenous, the oldest people on the planet. Continue reading »
