TMC007: Colorectal Surgery with Mr. Raaj Chandra

TMC Podcast: Interviews with Medical Specialists

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This week’s podcast is an interview with Mr. Raaj Chandra, who is a consultant colorectal surgeon at The Royal Melbourne and Box Hill hospitals.

Mr Chandra took a slightly different pathway to most through his junior doctor years – he joined the military air force halfway through this degree and as a result, worked for 5 years in the Royal Australian Airforce after he graduated from medical school. He discusses the advantages and disadvantages of working with the military, the work he did while he was there and how his training pathway changed due to the extra time he put aside to work in the military.

Mr Chandra became attracted to surgery quite early on in his career and he talks about the highlights of surgery and the aspects of surgery that appealed to him. Furthermore, he provides insight into how he came into colorectal surgery specifically. The podcast also covers the best and worst parts of colorectal surgery, which include how challenging but fulfilling colorectal surgery can be, as well as how severe complications can get at times.

We ask Mr Chandra about his day-to-day jobs and variety that exists in colorectal – from clinics to surgeries to endoscopy. He discusses the types of cases he commonly sees as well as the hours he is expected to work. He provides his opinions on how he thinks the colorectal surgery field will advance over the next 5 years, particularly whether technology will reach a point where robots can perform surgeries.

This podcast goes into a lot of depth about what a career in colorectal surgery involves as well as the type of personalities that would suit the job. We hope you guys enjoy it! As always, feel free to leave us any questions or feedback you may have.

If you have any other questions you’d like us to ask Mr Raaj Chandra, fill out the form below or shoot us a message!

Pathways into Colorectal Surgery:

Medical School → Internship → HMO → Surgical Education and Training (SET) Program (5 to 6 years, earliest you can apply is PGY2) → Fellowship (FRACS) for 1 to 2 years in colorectal surgery → Consultant

Source: Colorectal Surgical Society of Australia and New Zealand

Salary

Unfortunately, there was no salary data for Colorectal Surgeons as part of the 2013-2014 Australian Government Taxation Data.

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