Lina Li has traded her Sydney beach life for the red sands and expansive skies of Alice Springs. She explores the unique challenges and rewards as an orthoptist practising in the heart of Australia.
Life in Sydney consisted of a vibrant, concrete jungle-like CBD complemented nicely with the picturesque coastline of New South Wales. The dog beach visits every other Sunday were a routine, and the proximity to the beach was a luxury. Fast forward to my present life in Alice Springs, where the landscape is desert-like with red-orange sand, ranges, and beautiful clear blue skies. Waterholes substitute beaches, and the mantra seems to be “either three minutes driving distance, or three hours away”.
“The often transient staffing in Alice Springs presents a unique challenge: the service area is vast, covering Central Australia, and the range of eye conditions I encounter are broad.”
The earthly colours of Alice Springs create a unique backdrop, and the work-life balance is exceptional, thanks to the close proximity of shops and the slower pace of life. But the real reason I’m here is for my orthoptic career.
This journey began at Children’s Hospital Westmead, weaving through Sydney Eye Specialists before landing in Alice Springs Hospital. The decision to explore rural and interstate placements during my student days opened my eyes to the variety and experience of new territories. The transition from the bustling medical scene in Sydney to the smaller, close-knit community of Alice Springs was both challenging and rewarding.
Having completed my orthoptic training at the University of Technology Sydney, I found myself in an environmental landscape vastly different from the city I had known. Alice Springs’ ophthalmology department is a small team with a long-term ophthalmologist (Dr Tim Henderson), rotating registrar, eye nurses, orthoptists, a booking officer, and reception staff. A locum ophthalmologist can come for any period from one week to one year, and throughout the year there will also be visiting medical officers with subspeciality skills for retinal, paediatric, corneal, uveitis and glaucoma conditions.
The often-transient staffing in Alice Springs presents a unique challenge: the service area is vast, covering Central Australia, and the range of eye conditions I encounter are broad. Providing effective continuity of care requires a combination of resident and regular returning staff to ensure recurrent continuity.
A typical week in Alice Springs involves community outreach visits once-a-week, pre-op workup and clinic on Tuesdays, surgery all day Wednesday and post-op clinic and injection clinics Thursday, with an extra theatre afternoon and/or general clinic. On Fridays, post-ops and general patients are seen. On-call advice and consults are available 24/7.
The ophthalmology department also provides a satellite service to Tennant Creek hospital every two months.
As part of our regular work, to schedule outreach community visits or theatre days, we need to account for many moving parts. Some examples include cultural events and community visits which lead to last-minute cancellations, our outreach plane experiencing technical issues or the occasional stormy weather making flying conditions voided if possible.
General hospital staffing can also affect the surgery days which may be added or cancelled at short notice. This flow on effect could mean clinics would be added on short notice.
Orthoptics is a relatively new addition to the Alice Springs eye health ecosystem, but it has been a great asset to the ophthalmology department. We run orthoptic-only clinics every Wednesday; these can consist of vision checks for patching treatment, visual fields bookings to offload from diagnostic-heavy clinics and occasional cataract pre-assessment clinic. The orthoptic skills and knowledge of the eye is also beneficial to help improve the knowledge of non-clinical staff or new staff members.
What I enjoy most about practising in Alice Springs Hospital is the people. Every individual has a unique journey of how they landed in Alice Springs, adding to the richness of experiences. Exploring remote communities and witnessing the changes in the landscape, especially after rainfall when the scenery turns green, is truly spectacular. In the heart of the Australian outback, Alice Springs has proven to be more than just a desert – it’s a place of diverse beauty and remarkably cosmopolitan community spirit.
About the author: Lina Li is an Orthoptist at Sydney Eye Hospital and Norwest Eye clinic. She completed a Masters of Orthoptics at University of Technology.
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