Interview with Dr John Bailie

Romy Mondschein

This month I spoke to Dr John Bailie (left). John is a UK-trained urologist who originally undertook a fellowship in Melbourne before realising that Queensland has much better weather! He took up a Senior Medical Officer position at Redcliffe Hospital, Metro North Hospital and Health Service, in 2020. It was wonderful to hear John's insights on the future of urology research, sub-specialisation and life outside of work.

How and why did you become interested in a career in urology?

I decided early on in medical school that I wanted to pursue a career in surgery. Initially I wanted to be a general surgeon but I was allocated a urology rotation as part of basic surgical training in the UK and I really enjoyed it. I never looked back after that. I was fortunate to work with supportive trainers and a senior registrar who involved me in a few research projects. This helped a lot in terms of building my CV. I spent a year as an unaccredited registrar before getting on to the higher training urology programme in the North East of England, UK. I completed 5 years of training there prior to undertaking a 2-year fellowship at Monash Health in Melbourne from 2018-2020.

What are some of the differences between urology in the UK and Australia?

Urology is more sub-specialised in the UK compared to Australia. Most Australian urologists are generalists with a wider scope of surgical practice compared to their UK counterparts. This is changing though and increasingly there is now a degree of sub-specialism in Australia, particularly in larger tertiary hospitals and within domains such as robotic surgery and reconstruction. There are a number of reasons for the difference in how urology is practiced in the UK compared to Australia (geography, population density, UK NHS model versus hybrid public-private Australian model) and there are pros and cons for both.

What do you love about working in Redcliffe?

I have been at Redcliffe for over 2 years and I really like it here. It is a very harmonious unit and everyone works well together. There is a broad range of pathology here and amongst the team we have expertise in most aspects of urology including uro-oncology, endo-urology and functional urology. Robotic surgery is undertaken by Redcliffe surgeons at RBWH and the Herston campus of Metro North. Since 2020 the unit has held a charity run for prostate cancer on the Redcliffe peninsula in conjunction with the local prostate cancer support group. This has been a great success with eager participation amongst the hospital staff and local community.

Is there a urology sub-speciality that you are most interested in managing? Why?

I have a sub-specialist interest in laparoscopic and open upper tract oncology and endo-urology including PCNL and HoLEP. I was fortunate to learn both prone and supine approaches to PCNL at Monash with 2 of the highest volume PCNL surgeons in Australia.

What research aspect of this field do you think will be the ‘next big thing’ to influence current practice?

I am fascinated by all aspects of minimally invasive surgery. I suspect when the cost of robotic surgery decreases we will see greater proliferation and uptake of the technology which will be good for patients and surgeons alike.

Any advice for doctors interested in pursuing a career in urology?

Urology is a great specialty with high job satisfaction amongst surgeons. There is a broad scope of surgical practice and the specialty has been at the forefront in terms of implementing new technologies and in minimally invasive surgery. Probably the most important piece of advice I can give is to identify mentors early on who can help guide with career direction. Try to get involved in research projects even at the medical school stage, ask for allocations to urology units as a resident and try to maximise the opportunities while you’re there. Urology is a competitive surgical specialty and it’s important to build your CV accordingly. Courses, presentations, publications are all an excellent way of demonstrating commitment to specialty and are an integral pre-requisite for success in applications for SET training. It is also important not to lose heart when applying for SET training – many people don’t get on to the programme at the first time of asking and the extra time can be a great opportunity to remedy deficiencies in research output, clinical experience and/or exams.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

A good work-life balance is very important and this is something I am always striving to achieve. Outside urology I enjoy cycling, running, going to concerts, spending quality time with friends and family and travelling. Unfortunately the latter has been a bit difficult recently with COVID but things are starting to improve.