Mastering Intensive Care 044 with Geoff Toogood

To help raise awareness about #CrazySocks4Docs this episode’s guest is Dr Geoff Toogood.

Geoff is a Cardiologist at Peninsula Health and in Private Practice in Melbourne, Australia. He is also a Board Member of South West Health Care, Ambassador for Beyond Blue and Ambassador for Masters Swimming Victoria. He is both a pool and open water swimmer, having competed at National and International level, using swimming for his mental wellbeing. Geoff has completed a relay across the English Channel, swum solo in the Rottnest Island swim and many other open water and pool swims.

Despite having a cardiologist on the show, this is mostly a talk about mental health, rather than cardiology. Geoff has had his share of mental health struggles, having had a period of anxiety early in his career and then more recently severe depression leading to suicidal ideation.

But most importantly, Geoff has used his story, told humbly and vulnerably, to create awareness about Doctors mental health and to break the stigma, through the CrazySocks4Docs movement, which you’ll hear about today.

All healthcare workers are at risk of mental health issues. They are more common than we realise. Mental health disorders can lead to burnout, divorce and suicide. We must talk more about this issue; so we can understand this, do things to help reduce the risk, and to help each other when we identify mental ill health in our colleagues. If we talk about this as an industry, we will hopefully all be better off. We, ourselves. Our colleagues. And more importantly, our patients.

The conversation on this podcast covers:

Scott is a deep-thinking man, very focused on understanding and practicing well considered and patient-oriented care particularly at the resuscitation end of intensive or critical care medicine, and is very good with spoken language.

Please enjoy listening to Scott Weingart.