Dr Pamela Boekel is a consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon that specialises in shoulder and elbow surgery. She has been working at Azure for almost 2 years, putting her clinical skills and practice into medicolegal assessments.
We recently sat down with Dr Boekel and gained a further insight into her why, why she chose this industry and why she loves her job. We began with the simple question:
Azure: Why did you choose Orthopaedic Surgery as your specialty?
Dr Boekel: I did medicine to become an orthopaedic surgeon! My passion for orthopaedics was a lucky accident, really. When I was in my final year of high school, I was discussing my future study plans with my neighbour, who was a final year Orthopaedic Trainee at the time. He was an incredible teacher and mentor, and he encouraged me to consider a career in medicine. He even arranged for me to attend the hospital with him as work experience! Within 30 minutes of being in the hospital, I was scrubbed into an operation – I even got to hold a drill! I loved the instant gratification of fixing a broken bone back together again, and seeing what a positive difference operations like joint replacements could make to a person’s life. I was hooked! Ever since then, I have single-mindedly pursued a career in orthopaedics!
A: What do you enjoy about doing medicolegal work?
Dr: I really enjoy the change of pace with a medicolegal assessment. My usual day-to-day medicine is absolutely frenetic, so I see it as a real luxury to sit down with a person for an hour and hear their story. I think the clients find this “deep dive” into their condition helpful as well. When looking at a case with fresh eyes and a focus on detail, I can sometimes unearth a diagnosis or treatment pathway that has not been tried yet, that may help their recovery as well. I’m hopeful, that by providing a detailed and thoughtful assessment, I can help bring a timely resolution to the case as well.
A: Do you find it difficult to provide an un-biased opinion in sensitive or complex cases?
Dr: Unconscious bias is something that I constantly challenge myself on. As one of 6% of female orthopaedic surgeons in Australia, I have certainly been on the receiving end of unconscious bias during training and daily work life. Therefore it is a phenomenon that I have studied in detail over the years\to understand why I was being treated differently to my other male colleagues! But this exercise in recognising bias has made me cognizant of my own judgement patterns. I have techniques to try and minimise my bias – for example, I don’t tend to read or register from whom the letter of instruction has come from, so that I can provide as open minded an assessment as possible.
A: What in your opinion makes a high quality medicolegal report?
Dr: From what I know about the law, details are important! Therefore I always try and be as specific and detailed as possible, covering all bases and being sure to accurately answer all questions. I also strive to have an efficient turn around time – this helps with recalling details and accuracy, as well as keeping the case moving for the patient!
A: What advice would you give to other doctors thinking about entering the medicolegal space?
Dr: I encourage my friends to consider medicolegal work! It’s a nice change of pace, and it’s beneficial for us as surgeons to see the “ins and outs” of a patient’s journey through compensation pathways. I’ve found that there’s transferrable skills that I can bring to my surgical practice, with helping patients navigate such pathways.
A: What are your passions and hobbies outside of medicine?
Dr: I’m a diehard rugby league fan – a sport I discovered whilst on subspecialty training in Far North Queensland and in the north of England. It’s such a great sport! But disappointing to be back in Melbourne, where noone understands what I’m banging on about! I also enjoy going to the gym (ex-Crossfit addict) and hanging out with my dog, Frankie.
A: If you weren’t a doctor, what career path do you think would have taken?
Dr: As a kid, I wanted nothing more than to drive a digger! Upon reflection, I probably should have taken that dream more seriously – I missed out on a lucrative career in the mines! But in all seriousness, being an orthopaedic surgeon was all I ever wanted to be, and all I could ever imagine myself doing!
A: What do you enjoy most about working with Azure?
Dr: Azure has made starting medicolegal work so effortless and straightforward. As doctors, we are trained to use certain patterns and processes – history, examination, investigations, treatment. Therefore, we do tend to have idiosyncratic work flows, which can be different to other professions – for instance, I think IT people and doctors have very different brains! As a company run by doctors, for doctors, the nature of the business is set up so that the workflow and even simple things, like our IT interface, makes sense to me.
To book an appointment for your patient with Dr Boekel or to request her CV, please contact our administration team via email admin@azuremedicolegal.com.
