Dr Anirudh ‘Anj’ Bhardwaj has just finished his internship at the Ipswich Hospital.
Dr Bhardwaj is about to start a cardiology rotation before moving to the Emergency Department and finishing the year on the Intensive Care Unit rotation.
Dr Bhardwaj was born in India but was 8 years old when his family came to live at Forest Lake.
“No, no one else in my family is in the medical profession.
“My dad is a police officer and my mum is a high school teacher so giving back and helping others was always a big theme in our household.
“I guess it rubbed off on me too in its own way,” Dr Bhardwaj said.
In his senior year, Dr Bhardwaj wasn’t sure what he wanted to study at university and was feeling a little lost about his future.
“I was encouraged by my mum to volunteer at the Princess Alexandra (PA) Hospital.
“Volunteering was a way to see if anything caught my eye.
“I spent a lot of time hanging out and chatting with the younger patients who didn’t have support networks in the area – a lot of them were teenagers from rural areas and undergoing treatment for different types of cancer.
“It was great spending time with them and I think I helped them feel, even if only for a little while, that they weren’t just sick, they were normal teenagers hanging out with a friend.
“That was a great feeling, but I wanted to do more to help so I decided to study medicine,” Dr Bhardwaj said.
Dr Bhardwaj remembers the moment he made the life altering decision to join the medical profession.
“One of the most amazing things I have experienced is spending time with a young guy who had been in a car accident and was paralysed and I was so taken-aback by his attitude and how he didn’t let this experience dictate his life,” Dr Bhardwaj said.
After completing his Internship, Dr Bhardwaj has learned to take a more holistic approach to treating his patients.
“It’s not just about treating this patient and moving on to the next.
“It’s a wider approach than that – how do we stop this happening again, what can be done in the short, medium and long term to help them, what is their support network like.
“These things can make a big difference in someone’s recovery after being in hospital,” Dr Bhardwaj said.
When 23 year old, Dr Bhardwaj is not at work, he likes to catch up with friends at the Pump Yard or spend time with his brother and family at Brassall.
But spare time is not something Dr Bhardwaj has a lot of.
“This year I am working on completing my Masters of Public Health.
“It’s really interesting and focuses on how to limit the number of people affected by preventable illnesses and disease.
“I also wouldn’t mind working in remote areas in the future, either here or overseas.
“Medicine is always advancing and everyone deserves the best care possible and if there is something I can do to deliver that then I think that’s a really worthwhile thing to do with my life,” Dr Bhardwaj said.
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