With the politicians playing musical chairs this week, two snippets of news about long serving doctors have provided some much needed reassurance about what it really means to serve the public.
On Monday we linked to a story about Dr Colin Owen, who has been the sole doctor for the 1100 residents of Inglewood in Queensland since 1968. And - wait for it - he has never had a sick day in the 53 years that he's worked for Queensland Health.
In my book, that should automatically qualify him for Australian of the Year, although some might say that not having the occasional sickie is a bit un-Australian.
According to the Courier Mail, the 70-year-old Dr Owen runs a private practice and is also responsible for a 22-bed hospital. Working 22 days on and six days off he has accumulated more than 135 weeks of unused sick leave. His secret, he says, is an early night.
"People ask me why am I still here. The answer is, because I haven't left," Dr Owen says. "I'll keep going until I die. I'm extremely healthy."
The other news item I noticed this week was about a British country doctor whose patients were inspired to compile a book about him after he died.
Until his death earlier this year, Dr Brian Davies was known locally as just 'Doc' in the Welsh village where he worked for 32 years. "His funeral was packed out - standing room only. Someone said 'I bet everyone here has a story about the Doc', a local said.
And when the local bookshop manager asked former patients and friends for anecdotes about him, she was inundated with accounts of his quirky sense of humour, his genorosity and devotion to his patients. She compiled them into a book, 'Tales of a Country Doctor' which has now sold more than 700 copies.
Will the next generation of doctors have same sense of duty and the same work ethic?
Or will the prefence for work-life balance and new challenges mean the end of the long-serving local doctor?
