By Jem Anshaw
You would be hard pressed to find anyone in the Muswellbrook area who has not crossed paths with Dr Peter Brown at either Brook Medical Practice or Muswellbrook Hospital.
He came to Muswellbrook 36 years ago with a focus on anaesthetics and obstetrics, and this commitment was recognised by the Rural Doctors Network at an event at the end of November.
“It’s kind of recognition for my family too, and a bit of recognition for the practice here and my colleagues,” Dr Brown shared when discussing the event.
This is the second accolade recently received by Dr Brown. In October he attended a service in Darwin to be presented a Fellowship from the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine.
Dr Brown was born and raised in the Northern Beaches in Sydney where he completed his schooling and then attending the University of Sydney.
As a child his family holidays would involve road trips around New South Wales, due to his father working for the Lands Department as an auditor who enjoyed the open road and wanted to share it with his family.
After they got married Dr Brown and his wife Helen moved to the UK to work.
“The initial plan was to go to the UK for six months, and then we ended up staying just under two years and I did anaesthetics,” he recalled.
“When you look at where can you do both anaesthetics and obstetrics, you’re looking at rural practice.”
Muswellbrook became home because it was rural, but still within a few hours’ drive to Sydney to remain close to family.
“I had a lot of respect for Dr Miller, Grant was a multi-talented, very easy to work with surgeon,” Dr Brown told The Hunter River Times.
“We had the support back then of a variety of us doing obstetrics and a variety of us doing anaesthetics so we did have a very supportive work environment, and that enabled us to manage a lot of problems, and that is very hard to replicate.
“I think one of the greatest attractions of rural general practice is the breadth of practice. I have been privileged to assist in many births and hear the joy of the baby’s first cry, but also the later years of life when the inevitable path becomes difficult.”
When asked what some career highlights have been, his initial response was to laugh and say he gets to say he owns a carpark, referencing the Brook Medical Carpark that was an interesting journey to design and complete.
“Probably the redevelopment of the Accident Emergency (at Muswellbrook Hospital), we were in the unique position of having an Accident Emergency on the first floor for many years, that’s not how it was planned, but that’s how it happened,” he continued.
“And one of the things I tell people that is really, really good is if we do have a big emergency, the ability of the John Hunter to give input through video is great.”
When discussing his career, Dr Brown was full of praise for his colleagues at both Brook Medical Practice and the Muswellbrook Hospital, sighting many that he holds in high regard for their commitment to the area and their roles in it.
“Nursing staff have played an important role in many aspects of medical care, particularly the frontline services and also the subspecialised areas,” he said.
“On so many occasions the team has risen to the presenting challenges at both the surgery and hospital.”
Dr Brown’s Commitment to Rural Medicine Recognised for a Life of Service
By Jem Anshaw
You would be hard pressed to find anyone in the Muswellbrook area who has not crossed paths with Dr Peter Brown at either Brook Medical Practice or Muswellbrook Hospital.
He came to Muswellbrook 36 years ago with a focus on anaesthetics and obstetrics, and this commitment was recognised by the Rural Doctors Network at an event at the end of November.
“It’s kind of recognition for my family too, and a bit of recognition for the practice here and my colleagues,” Dr Brown shared when discussing the event.
This is the second accolade recently received by Dr Brown. In October he attended a service in Darwin to be presented a Fellowship from the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine.
Dr Brown was born and raised in the Northern Beaches in Sydney where he completed his schooling and then attending the University of Sydney.
As a child his family holidays would involve road trips around New South Wales, due to his father working for the Lands Department as an auditor who enjoyed the open road and wanted to share it with his family.
After they got married Dr Brown and his wife Helen moved to the UK to work.
“The initial plan was to go to the UK for six months, and then we ended up staying just under two years and I did anaesthetics,” he recalled.
“When you look at where can you do both anaesthetics and obstetrics, you’re looking at rural practice.”
Muswellbrook became home because it was rural, but still within a few hours’ drive to Sydney to remain close to family.
“I had a lot of respect for Dr Miller, Grant was a multi-talented, very easy to work with surgeon,” Dr Brown told The Hunter River Times.
“We had the support back then of a variety of us doing obstetrics and a variety of us doing anaesthetics so we did have a very supportive work environment, and that enabled us to manage a lot of problems, and that is very hard to replicate.
“I think one of the greatest attractions of rural general practice is the breadth of practice. I have been privileged to assist in many births and hear the joy of the baby’s first cry, but also the later years of life when the inevitable path becomes difficult.”
When asked what some career highlights have been, his initial response was to laugh and say he gets to say he owns a carpark, referencing the Brook Medical Carpark that was an interesting journey to design and complete.
“Probably the redevelopment of the Accident Emergency (at Muswellbrook Hospital), we were in the unique position of having an Accident Emergency on the first floor for many years, that’s not how it was planned, but that’s how it happened,” he continued.
“And one of the things I tell people that is really, really good is if we do have a big emergency, the ability of the John Hunter to give input through video is great.”
When discussing his career, Dr Brown was full of praise for his colleagues at both Brook Medical Practice and the Muswellbrook Hospital, sighting many that he holds in high regard for their commitment to the area and their roles in it.
“Nursing staff have played an important role in many aspects of medical care, particularly the frontline services and also the subspecialised areas,” he said.
“On so many occasions the team has risen to the presenting challenges at both the surgery and hospital.”
