00:02Well, I'm shocked, isn't it? But obviously I'm flattered and I'm mostly
00:08feeling honoured and very much overcome in a sense. I'm grateful for those people
00:16who nominated me and I really appreciate their kindness in being served. Even if
00:23it was misguided, I'm glad that they did it. So I've been blessed with
00:29having over the years. Some really excellent colleagues and so their
00:35nomination was especially heartwarming, if you like.
00:42Well, the biologics have totally transformed everything. Until their
00:47arrival, their ability to treat rheumatoid arthritis in particular was quite limited
00:52and unfortunately people who suffered from that really did suffer. Many of them
00:57finished up on wheelchairs or worse. And rheumatoid arthritis is quite a common
01:03condition. So many people have relatives and at first time knowledge of the
01:08conditions that used to be. When I first went into the specialty, the best we could
01:15offer for them is really assistance and control the disease to a degree. But we
01:22were, many of them really came to poor outcomes. Things started to turn around
01:30around the 1990s, but then the biologics came. And when something comes along now, we are diagnosed
01:37with rheumatoid arthritis. I can confidently say to them, your outlook is good. Don't think back about what
01:44grandma was like. Your outlook is good. So it's a total revolution. And this is also
01:50extended to other similar inflammation joint diseases. Unfortunately, where we're
01:55still lagging is in the treatment of osteoarthritis, which is perhaps the most
02:01common condition and particularly in people over the age of 60. And really, we
02:07haven't made any real progress at all. We're still relying on joint replacement as the
02:13most effective treatment when that's possible. Otherwise, it's pain control,
02:18exercise and so on. It's a very stubborn ball to bake through. Different from the
02:24inflammatory diseases.
02:26Surgery is drastic, isn't it, or something like that?
02:28Yes, yes, yes. But there's really, it's been a tough nut, but continues to defy any progress.
02:39How did I create it? Well, I and a colleague, Dr. John Glass, who unfortunately has deceased
02:48since then, or was recently deceased, came roughly at the same time. And clearly there was a need
02:55and we were fortunate that the hospital came to recognise that there was a need and made a position
03:01available, which is where I was, which is what I took up. So that was too far back to even
03:09contemplate.
03:10Tell, how many years have you been working? Well, it was in 1976 or 7, I think, I can't remember
03:18exactly, trying to live it down, but this all happened. And the specialty at that time was still
03:26in its infancy, if you like, and acceptance, not only in Newcastle, of course, but right throughout
03:31the country was still struggling. But since then, of course, it has blossomed and is now one of the
03:37leading specialties of internal medicine and much sought after for trainees to come into. So we have been
03:45very fortunate to really extract some of the best trainees just because of such a sought after
03:53position. So we now have quite a lot of people in Newcastle, but we're still short. We still need more
04:00people to meet the need. We have trainees from here have gone all over the place, throughout the
04:07state, interstate, overseas. So we have all kinds. I was trying to remember, I think we must have had at
04:15least
04:1540 or more people now trained.
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