Reflections on Australian Medicine—Derivative or Unique?
Abstract
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry (1981) 15205-209 - REFLECTIONS ON AUSTRALIAN MEDICINE DERIVATIVE OR UNIQUE?â ERICG. SAINT Many months ago Gordon Parker kindly invited me to talk at this forum, believing, one supposes, that I am a kind of psychiatrist manque. âYou mightâ, he wrote, âcome to consider whether Australian medicine has a clear identity, or whether it has a derivative stance in relation to overseas countries. You might, on the other hand, come to consider the future of medicine more generally, thus allowing psychiatrists to consider whether their future is similar to that of the rest of the profession, or uniqueâ. Now it would be presumptuous of me to characterise the present state of psychiatry in Australia - this is presumably what you are about in this Congress; and it would be even more presumptuous of me to speculate on your future: that is something for you to determine in the light of what you perceive to be your priorities in the current Australian condition of people, problems and resources. It is therefore to the first question, in which âclear identityâ, âuniquenessâ, âderivative stanceâ are the key words, that I am most attracted. To find