Mastering Intensive Care 005 with Jamie Cooper

In this episode Prof Jamie Cooper from the Alfred Hospital and Monash University in Melbourne, Australia describes how purposeful management of our own careers is vital for longevity in the field, how research has helped him be a better clinician and some of the habits he thinks are important to having a good life at work and at home.

Jamie discusses topics such as: why he the immediacy in ICU made it interesting to him; how as a trainee his older colleagues were warning him about burnout; how the size of ICUs has changed over his career; how the gender imbalance has not; how combining research with clinical medicine has increased his career longevity; how if everyone in a department helps each other, the place will be happier; how ICUs can become too large for a single department head

He reviews how caring for multiple patient types extends our career; how building too many things into our lives especially at work is a big risk; how preserving evenings and weekends for family is a must; the importance of regular exercise, especially with groups; how important sleep including naps has been to him; the benefits of bringing reading back into his life; the value of communication, especially with visiting surgeons, where conflict may arise; how the use of text messages can be very helpful and when it is not.

The interview concludes with some advice from Jamie for younger intensivists about how they should be alert and aware to prevent potential troubles in their careers. Jamie has had a hugely successful academic career, however quite rightly he hopes to be thought more of for his excellence as a clinician, something he certainly is.

My genuine hope with the Mastering Intensive Care podcast is to inspire and empower you to bring your best self to the ICU by listening to the perspectives of such thought-provoking guests as Wes Ely. I passionately believe we can all get better, both as carers and as people, so we can do our absolute best for those patients whose lives are truly in our hands.

Feel free to leave a comment on the Facebook “mastering intensive care” page, on the LITFL episode page, on Twitter using #masteringintensivecare, or by sending me an email at andrewATmasteringintensivecare.com.

Further reading and listening

• Full podcast collection on LITFL and Libsyn
• More conversation on Twitter (@andrewdavies66) and Facebook