Dr Ross White
A Farewell to an Esteemed Colleague and Friend
Dr Ross White has had a very long association with Ryde Hospital - first by being born in Denistone House, then serv- ing as a medical student coming here to learn suturing in the ED, then coming back to join the fledgling Hospitalist Ser- vice in 2007. Ross had had a remarkable career as a true generalist, including country general practice and obstetrics, then as a drug and alcohol doctor and methadone prescriber, a palliative care doctor, and a cardiothoracic surgical registrar and ED senior. All before embracing the new challenges of Hospital Medicine.
Across his career he has provided care and advocacy for junior doctors through the Australian Salaried Medical Officer Union and the Australasian Society for Career Medical Officers.
At Ryde he has contributed greatly to nurturing and strengthening our medical workforce, and has been the longest serving Director of Prevocational Education and Training (DPET) in NSW history. Over his 16 years here he has cared for the JMOs in difficulty and mentored the systems hat support them, participated in countless digital transformations, created and managed a JMO web site, and moved progressively into a clinical quality role to support the systems that support the staff who work here.
As our Blood Committee guru, as End of Life advocate and review member of the Clinical Incident Review committee and Medication safety, he has brought a wealth of knowledge and experience and a unique perspective to the table.
His exceptional work in helming the CEC Death Review process, linking it to relevant service review mechanisms and reporting up the line, has been acknowledged at a state level.
But beyond the list of accomplishments, it is the person we value. Ross is a raconteur - a teller of stories about all man- ner of things, from the sometimes quite extraordinary experiences he had as a country GP, to the finer details of world war history or all there is to know about some obscure medical condition. It is a complex mind map underlying an unpre- dictable but always entertaining conversation with Ross, but what shines through every conversation is his sharp intel- lectual curiosity, warmth and kindness, unfailing good humour and a generosity of spirit that we all know and love. This generalist temperament underpinned his most personally valued role as the long standing Staff GP here, a role that those who worked with him could see he found central to his life - and his care in that role has been especially val- ued across the campus in time of trouble and difficulty. That special connection to all our hearts was reflected in the wide and wonderful attendance at his farewell. We will miss all of those qualities and all the terrible jokes, and Ryde will be a poorer place without you. We wish the very best for you retirement and happiness in your complete attention to family and loved ones. We look forward to see- ing you at the opening of the new hospital.
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