Introducing our DiT of the month , Dr Sanjay Hettige
Pronouns
He/Him
State/Country
NSW
Role in AMACDT
Chair
Specialty
Radiology
What drew you to medicine
Medicine is a fascinating profession that is at the intersection of so many disciplines and is as much an art as well as a science. The endless possibilities and directions that you can take with medicine makes it appealing to someone as scatterbrained as myself. The fact that you get to combine a dynamic profession with the privilege of caring for patients elevates it even further. That sense of purpose knowing that your actions in a working day contributed to patient care makes it all worth it on those days when the job can be really exhausting.
Who is your greatest hero or inspiration
Don't think I have a greatest hero in mind but certainly an inspiration in the political sphere must be Paul Keating. He may have been before my time but the level of reform that was achieved nationally during that time is inspiring. Also just fun to watch some zingers from him in Question Time!
How do you like to reset/destress?
Immerse myself in a good book/audiobook/podcast, preferably with a good glass of wine!
Where do you see yourself in 5 years
Working as a radiologist in western Sydney with a mix of both private and public practice. Also hopefully still very much involved in advocacy through AMA.
What is your top advocacy priority and why?
Accredited specialty training through medical colleges is currently in a state of flux with the work of multiple government reviews currently underway as well as the review of the AMC standards for specialist medical colleges. This is a unique opportunity for accredited specialty training to evolve in leaps and bounds to make it better for trainees across all specialties and AMA CDT has got a unique seat at the table to advocate for the best outcome for our colleagues.
What do you think is the biggest challenge for DiTs at present?
I think we're at an inflection point when it comes to being a DiT. Our generation wants medical training that is much more flexible than current models. We have the data and theories to support an evolution in medical training but we're not there yet in terms of implementation. Cultural change in medicine is also at the beginning and has a long way to go to support safe working environments. Unfortunately, this means that we've got a lot of burnt out DiTs that are walking away from the system. We need to accelerate this change to make sure DiTs feel they have a future in medicine which in turn means that Australia has a strong future medical workforce.
What advice would you give to DiTs who would like to be more involved in advocacy?
This may be a bit too on the nose but in short, get involved! Your voice matters and the more people involved in advocacy the better. Join your state DiT committee and let them know what issues matter to you and what you think should be done to solve them. It all starts with caring about an issue and wanting to do something about it. When it comes to DiT issues the AMA has the inbuilt structure to make sure the advocacy you want to do has the maximal impact.
