Problem solving, educating & collaborating on cases all in a day for Dr. Duah

Occupational medicine mightn’t be the first field that doctors consider for their specialty. However, with a variety of interesting cases, opportunities to problem solve with colleagues and the ability to educate a wide range of people about their health, KINNECT occupational health doctor Dr. Kofi Duah says it’s an area that has a lot to offer. Here, he tells us about what led him to occupational medicine and the most fulfilling, and challenging, parts of the job.

What is your background?

I went to medical school in Wollongong, New South Wales. I always thought I’d be a rural GP, but I quickly found out that medicine is quite vast and there are hundreds of different paths that you can pursue. I became a bit overwhelmed and confused with the different options that were available, which I think happens to everybody.

After graduating, I worked as a junior medical officer in a hospital. Fairly quickly I went to work as a registrar in psychiatry because it’s an area that I found interesting (and still do) and then as a GP registrar for a while.

I found my first occupational medicine job by chance. I hadn’t heard of the field but was doing locum work and thought I’d try it out as I was still finding my niche. It was the first job that I thoroughly enjoyed. It was extremely flexible, good hours, and had very collegial environment, which was very different to some of the other jobs that I’ve had. It’s a far better lifestyle than working in accident and emergency, too.

What interests you the most about occupational medicine? 

Occupational medicine has a lot of problem solving. Every case has a problem to solve, and they’re all varied. They’ve each got their own little nuances, and there’s not a single way to solve each different case as long as you’re being safe for the workers.  I really do love that aspect about it because you can have three or four different occupational doctors that are given the same case and they’re going to review it and make recommendations which are different based on their own training.

I’ve also learned that there is a lot of opportunity to develop niches in occupational medicine. For example, I’ve got colleagues who only do railway medicals or aviation medicals, and others who only do health surveillance. You can do a bit of everything, or you can really focus on just on one particular area.

What parts of the job are the most satisfying?

It’s very collegial so you have opportunity to always learn from your colleagues. Everyone’s always happy to discuss a case because they’ll also learn, and you can debate things or discuss how you would manage things in future.  In general practice this sometimes happens, but because you’re seeing such a high volume of patients, you don’t really have much time. In occupational medicine you have more time to sit down and consider each individual case a bit more.

What parts of occupational medicine are the most challenging?

Our number one goal is to ensure workers are safe. When you’re starting out and you have a worker in front of you and you’ve got paperwork and some town names you’ve never seen, it can be a challenge to envision and understand exactly what they are doing and then appropriately risk profile the worker. This gets a bit easier with experience.

The other challenge we face is that when you’re doing medicals for workers, they’re incentivised to undersell the health conditions they may have in order to get the job. You really do have to be a bit of an investigator and listen to your listen to your gut instinct to make sure that they are safe, because sometimes they won’t look after themselves.

I remember a case where I was doing a rail medical for a worker who had a very high cardiovascular risk, and he hadn’t seen a doctor in a long time. Essentially, I had to tell them that we needed to do some additional tests and take him off work because it was quite serious. He was angry at me, but he eventually went to the cardiologist and underwent some interventions. He came back and thanked me saying: “I didn’t realise how severe my heart status was but thank you for having that conversation with me.”  The situation turned around quite quickly, but sometimes you do have to break bad news, but it’s in their best interest.

It can be a bit of a challenge at times, but it’s still quite rewarding. You have a lot of opportunity to educate because even simple things like blood pressure aren’t noticed by the person because they don’t feel anything, but that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s not something going on. 

Why did you decide to come and work at KINNECT?

Initially I worked for another large company, but I knew that KINNECT was privately owned and had a great culture, and that’s exactly what I found here.

You can talk to any of the senior leaders or doctors at any time and there’s good open-door policy – it doesn’t feel like a typical hierarchy. Even though we’re working in a remote environment – my manager is in Brisbane, I’m in Sydney and some of the other doctors are in Melbourne or Perth, I still feel as close as if we were working in a physical clinic together.

In your opinion, what are the benefits of being an occupational doctor at KINNECT?

There’s lots of opportunity to get involved in different projects and upskill in different areas of occupational medicine with certifications for specific areas like coal mining, aviation and rail.

For instance, I’ve done a lot of railway work and Dr Graeme Edwards ran a teaching session with myself and Dr Alana Sandell so that we can work in a deputy Chief Medical Officer (CMO) position for rail organisations. That’s something we would never experience that this stage of our careers elsewhere.

I feel that in general, KINNECT are willing to take the time and effort to really invest in us for our future growth and development. 

What would you say to doctors considering entering occupational medicine?

Unfortunately, it’s one of those pathways which you never think about in medical school – you might have one lecture, and you might hear things here or there. Or, if you work as a GP, you might do a little bit of Workcover work, but it’s so much more than that.

If you’re curious, spend a couple of days with a doctor who is practising occupational medicine. Then try spending a couple of days in different industries and find out what you like, because I truly believe there is a part of occupational medicine for everybody.

Regardless of what your background is in medicine, come in with an open mind and know that there’s a lot of opportunity out there, a lot that you can learn and it’s a very rewarding and satisfying career.

Are you a medical professional interested in a change of pace? Visit our careers site for more information about occupational health roles at KINNECT.