VICDOC Autumn 2023 - Magazine - Page 25
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CAREER
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I DIDN'T GET INVOLVED IN RESEARCH UNTIL
QUITE LATE IN MY CAREER. IT EVOLVED OUT OF
A NEED TO ADDRESS GAPS IN RESEARCH AREAS,
AND A DESIRE TO ADVOCATE.
In order to advocate more effectively,
evidence-based research is a necessity.
Where it didn’t already exist, I decided to
undertake research myself to understand
what was happening. When this was
translated into meaningful figures and
statistics, it made the message more
impactful. One of the first areas that
brought me into research was female
general cosmetic surgery, which came
to me through my general practice.
YOUNG WOMEN WERE COMING TO ME REQUESTING
GENITAL MODIFICATION.
Some teenagers presented with their
mothers, concerned about the appearance
of their genitals. As presentations started to
increase around 2010, my concern led this
to become a consuming topic from 2012
through to 2017. My interest expanded to
include body dysmorphic disorder, sexist
advertising and gender equity in health.
I supervised students who won awards
for their research in the area, as did I.
My research was published in BMJ and
I was invited to present internationally.
HAVING A FAMILY HAS REALLY RESTRICTED MY
CAREER OPTIONS.
I have two children, Artemis and Alexander,
who are now young adults. I worked fulltime throughout most of their childhoods,
and my husband was often absent as he
worked internationally, so I restricted
my work to being home-based and
Melbourne-based. This limited my ability
to take up some of the opportunities that I
was offered such as international roles and
speaking opportunities or to apply for an
international scholarship, which of course
I would’ve loved.
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