Furnishing the new office
Thanks for helping choose the furniture for my new office, Anna Law. I love those chairs.
Why consulting rooms sit alongside the hospital
Consulting rooms are where most of a surgical practice actually happens. An operation occupies a few hours, but the assessment beforehand, the discussion of whether an operation is warranted at all, and the review appointments afterwards all take place in rooms. Siting those rooms at Brisbane Private Hospital puts them in the same building as the imaging department, the operating theatres and the wards. That shortens the distance a patient has to travel between the parts of their care, and it makes it practical to review a scan with the radiology staff or to see a patient on the ward between consultations.
A room also has to work for the conversation it is built around. Shoulder problems are often long-standing and the decision about what to do next is rarely a simple one, so the rooms need space for a patient to bring a partner or family member, a screen large enough to look at imaging together, and somewhere comfortable to sit while all of that is talked through.
What happens in a shoulder consultation
A shoulder consultation usually begins with the story of the problem: how the pain started, which movements provoke it, whether the shoulder has ever come out of joint, and how it is affecting sleep, work and sport. Physical examination follows, testing the range of movement, the strength of the rotator cuff muscles and the stability of the joint. Imaging is then reviewed, commonly an X-ray together with an ultrasound or MRI scan, and read alongside the examination findings rather than in place of them.
Only then is it possible to discuss the options sensibly. Many shoulder conditions are managed without surgery, using physiotherapy, changes to activity or an injection. Where an operation is being considered, the discussion covers what the procedure involves, what the rehabilitation period will ask of the patient, and the risks. Individual results vary.
Related information
- Our post on the Shoulder Clinic walkthrough.
- The consultation page explains how to arrange an appointment and what to bring.
- The shoulder anatomy page covers the structures examined in clinic.
- The shoulder injuries page lists the conditions seen most often.