Outreach registrar continues providing clinics after fellowship

Dr Arman Babajanyan is a paediatrician based in Katoomba and has been providing Outreach clinics to the community of Lithgow since 2013.

In 2015 he was approached by Nepean Hospital and the Specialist Training Program to host Advanced Trainee Registrars and give them an experience outside of the hospital setting. Dr Babajanyan has been taking them to Lithgow on a six-monthly rotation ever since.

One of those registrars was Dr Bron Cruickshank, who has since completed her training and moved to Katoomba. Dr Cruickshank has been working alongside Dr Babajanyan for the last 18 months. While training at Westmead Children’s Hospital, Dr Cruickshank enjoyed paediatrics so much she continued along that path.

The Lithgow clinic’s main patient cohort is Aboriginal children, which presents many associated complex behavioural and social factors to consider. Dr Babajanyan tries to get registrars to see only new patients, so they can start with the initial consultation and assessments, and hopefully complete one to two follow-up sessions.

Dr Arman shows the registrars a multidisciplinary approach to paediatrics in a setting with few other resources. It can be an emotionally exhausting placement for many registrars. Dr Cruickshank completed 12 clinics at Lithgow and found the clinic to be gruelling but rewarding. She says it was a valuable experience as it was her first and only time outside of a hospital setting.

“The experience opened my eyes to what paediatrics would be like outside of an acute hospital setting, where long-term relationships could be established with children and their families.”

Dr Cruickshank has now settled in the Blue Mountains to be closer to family and works alongside Dr Babajanyan. In the future Dr Cruickshank would love to work in a rural setting and is interested in doing Outreach work should the opportunity arise.

Pictured: Dr Arman Babajanyan and Dr Bron Cruickshank.