In this episode of BluePrint MedTalks, our co-founder Michael Fernandes sits down with Dr. Kaushiki, a highly respected fertility specialist, obstetrician and gynaecologist with more than 27 years of experience across India, the UK and Australia.

Dr. Kaushiki opens up about her journey into the Australian healthcare system and discovering the vastness, complexity and cultural diversity of rural and remote practice.

She shares:

• How training in India, the UK and Australia shaped her into a more grounded clinician and human being.
• Why she still treats private patients the way she treated NHS patients, and how that decision helps her avoid “grey areas” and always act in the patient’s best interests.
• What shocked her about moving into rural and remote Australia, being the only specialist on call, referring patients to tertiary centres hours away, and learning to think “out of the box” when resources are limited.
• How working with Aboriginal communities taught her that patient care is never just clinical, and why truly holistic care has to include mental health, community context and culture.
• The realities of rural obstetrics: doing the hands-on work yourself, supporting GP obstetricians, and carrying the responsibility of being first, second and third on call.
• Practical advice for obstetricians considering their first locum in Australia, from the questions you must ask about workload and support, to how to integrate quickly into a new team.
• How she looks after her own wellbeing on the road, including quarantine stories, body-weight training, painting, and why having a kitchen and a plan for movement really matters.
• Why recurrent IVF failure is rarely “your fault”, what patients often misunderstand about it, and how a more targeted, customised approach can change outcomes. If you’re curious about what modern obstetrics and fertility care really look like across three healthcare systems and what that means for patients in Australia, this is an episode you won’t want to miss. Contact us: https://bit.ly/BPMT-Podcast

In this episode of BluePrint Med Talks, our co-founder Michael Fernandes sits down with Nurse Helen, who swapped a high-flying corporate career in London for a nursing degree, and eventually rural and remote nursing across Australia.

Helen shares:

• How she went from feeling “soulless” in corporate finance to finding real purpose in nursing.
• Wild early-career stories from moving medical supplies through North Africa.
• What shocked her most about working in places like Broken Hill, Mount Isa and Blackwater.
• The real differences between nursing in New Zealand vs Australia – from base hospitals to mining towns and Indigenous communities.
• Why rural nurses have to be “the resource” and how that changes teamwork, decision-making and responsibility.
• The truth about staffing, safety, burnout and loneliness on the road, and how she actually looks after her own wellbeing.
• Her best advice for city nurses thinking about taking the leap into travel, rural or remote work.

Helen also gets real about resilience, the emotional weight of the job, the moments that changed how she speaks to patients and families, and the case that reminded her exactly why she keeps saying yes to this work.

If you’ve ever wondered what life is really like as a rural or agency nurse in Australia, this is the episode to start with. Contact us: https://bit.ly/BPMT-Podcast