Introducing Genevieve Ostring- Paediatrician at Waitemata District Health Board.
What led you to pursue a career in medicine?
I had seen family members working in the health profession, and I wanted to follow in their footsteps. I considered a wide range of professions that could do this - including physiotherapy (as I love physical activity) and teaching. However, after talking to various people, I decided that medicine was likely to give me the opportunity to consider a wide range of "ways" of helping others - from the individual to wider policy affecting communities, to mentoring junior doctors. This has certainly turned out to be true in my working life - for which I am very thankful.
What tips do you have for those just starting out in their career?
Do not race to the finish line, take your time figuring out what you truly are interested in and what fits with your life values and goals. Once you do make that decision though, put all your efforts into finishing your training as fast as you can. The best advice given to me as a young doctor was "whatever you do will ultimately become routine and therefore a little boring, make sure you always have something new to think about and learn to keep you interested". This has worked extremely well for me - from becoming a general paediatrician, adding in subspecialty training, then adding in a focus on supporting and advocating for doctors training in paediatrics.
What do you do to maintain a healthy work-life balance?
I have learned the utter importance of knowing what is important to me with my values, versus what is important to others or an organisation I work for. Sometimes these values align, but not always. And when they do not align - and I do not stay true to myself - that is when I start having problems with my work-life balance. My family and my children are of utmost importance to me - I find that if the choices I make reflect this, I am much happier. I know that I need time in nature - preferably skiing, mountain biking, hiking or kayaking, and that I need to schedule in time for me to do things like that.
Why do you think Wāhine Connect is important for women working in medicine?
Relationships are everything, but we end up so busy in medicine both doing our job, but also at times “competing” against each other for marks (getting into medical school), jobs (as medical students), popular jobs (speciality training) and so on – we forget to just sit down and talk to each other. I have found it incredibly humbling to realise how many of us struggle with the same issues, and that just talking with someone else helps you to realise you are not alone. I wish I had learned that years and years ago when I was training.