After 50 years, Bendigo Doc’s heart’s still in it

FIFTY years practising medicine in one place is a long time, but if John Gault could have his way he would work 50 more.Dr Gault has loved his job as a cardiac physician since he started at Bendigo Health in August 1961.“Every person is a little different, they have a different story and they have different symptoms,” he said.There have been plenty of developments over 50 years which have helped keep him on his toes, including the introduction of CT scans, ultrasounds, electro-cardiograms and keyhole surgery.Dr Gault has had his fair share of interesting cases, including an ulcer patient whose affairs of the heart complicated a simple diagnosis.“The man had two women sitting on the side of his bed, one was the girlfriend he was living with... and the other one was his wife who had come down from Queensland with his kids,” Dr Gault laughed. “I thought, ‘we’ll never get him out of here, we’ll keep him here where he’s safe’.”Dr Gault recalled a patient who lost 30 years of memories after a tractor accident.“He thought he was back in the orphanage where he grew up in Ballarat,” he said. “He couldn’t work out the toilet because it didn’t have a chain.”Dr Gault, 78, has no thoughts of retirement. “I’ll try to keep working until I die.”