Doctors Who …

Photo: Dr Hilton Koppe who will be leading the Varuna “Doctors Who …” Writing Workshop on the 10th and 11th March 2012 with Doctor and author Leah Kaminsky.

When Lennox Head GP and well respected medical teacher, Dr Hilton Koppe, received a poem from a patient (reflecting her views of the care he had offered her during a recent protracted illness) which ended with the line “I should perhaps instead seek a vet”, Hilton was faced with a choice …  should he reach for the glass of red wine sitting next to him at the dining room table, in an attempted to quell the emotions raging inside of him as a result of reading such a poem (his preferred default position), or should he listen to the strange thought in his head which was saying “Well, if it was good enough for her to write a poem about how she was feeling …”, and instead pick up a pen and write a poem in response (something he had not done since Miss Black made the whole class write a poem in Grade 4)?

Luckily for Hilton, and for all of us, he chose the pen rather than the red.  As he sat there writing his first poem for 30 years, a strange thing happened.  The more he wrote, the less emotional turmoil there was inside of him, and the better he felt.  He was reminded of a line from his favourite poem “Everything is going to be alright”, by Irish poet, Derek Mahon, which goes; “The poems flow from the hand unbidden/And the hidden source is the watchful heart”.  Much to Hilton’s surprise, the poem did flow, and it seemed to him that the source was the emotion he was feeling as a result of reading his patient’s poem.  He wondered if other doctors might also find it useful to have the opportunity to write poems about some of the more difficult aspects of their work.

As a result of this musing, Hilton was then faced with another choice … should he consign this thought to the repository of thousands of other random thoughts he’d had over the years (his preferred default position), or should he be bold and brave and act on this thought.

Luckily for Hilton, and for all of us, he chose action rather than the thought scrapheap.  He was already involved in developing and delivering programs aimed at improving the wellbeing of doctors, so it was not too much of a detour off this path to work with a creative writing teacher to develop a writing workshop specifically for doctors.  These workshops had a number of goals:

• Offer doctors an opportunity to explore the use of writing as a means of helping them better understand the effects that their work has on their wellbeing, both positive and negative
• Offer doctors an opportunity to share with colleagues some of their deeper reflections on what it means to be a doctor, with creative writing as the catalyst for this discussion
• Re-ignite previously lost passions for creativity
• Offer doctors an opportunity to have light-hearted, constructive fun with colleagues while exploring the darker side of their responses to their work

These writing workshops have been an overwhelming success.  Hilton is now regularly invited to present this work around Australia and internationally.  In 2011, he ran writing workshops in UNESCO’s first three International Literary Cities – Edinburgh, Iowa and Melbourne – which Hilton says is like winning the Grand Slam of writing gigs.  The workshops vary from 1 hour interactive presentations at large medical conferences with audiences of up to 1500, to smaller intimate 2 day retreats.

“When I think back to the moment years ago when I looked at the red, but chose the pen, I can see that it changed my life for the better in ways unimaginable to me in that instant. I now am in the privileged position of having something which I absolutely love doing as part of my working life.  But even more than that, if the workshops help doctors to return to their consulting rooms feeling happier and with a greater sense of humanity and humility about them, then that has got to be good for the people who come to see them.  In some way, this work allows me to help people I will never even meet.  Of course, as a teacher, that is a wonderful thing.”

Over the last 12 months, Hilton has expanded the workshop format to enable him to deliver creative writing sessions for young people affected by serious illness.  This has included work with CANTEEN, and more recently, with Our Kids.  Videos of some of the young people speaking about their experiences and reading some of their poetry can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2011/07/04/3260807.htm

We are delighted that Hilton is joining forces with Dr Leah Kaminsky, author of The Pen and the Stethoscope to present a two day writing retreat/workshop as part of Varuna’s “Doctors Who …” event.

When: Commencing with a get-together on Friday evening 9th March (optional) followed by two full days Sat/Sun 10th & 11th March 2012

Where: Varuna, the Writers’ House – 141 Cascade St Katoomba, Blue Mountains NSW Australia

Cost: $300 including lunch

Bookings: Numbers for this retreat are strictly limited so bookings are essential to our online booking site – click here

Enquiries: to Lis at Varuna on 02 47825761 or lis@varuna.com.au

Preparation: It is recommended that participants read a copy of Leah Kaminsky’s “The Pen and the Stethoscope”