Dr Rolf Gomes is the Queensland nominee for Australian of the Year 2021. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Melbourne and is the Founding Father of Heart of Australia.
Heart of Australia delivers monthly specialist medical investigation and treatment clinics to regional, rural, and remote area communities across Queensland. With over 10,000 patients seen and 400 lives saved, it’s no wonder this man is up for such a prestigious award.
Dr Rolf Gomes' parents migrated from Calcutta when he was nine. He grew up in Melbourne's East St Kilda in 1982 when it was still a “relatively rough neighbourhood.”
He remembers loving his new life in Australia: “I was nine years old. I loved television, traffic lights, and BMX Bikes!”
Dr Gomes is acutely aware that his parents left everything in Calcutta to come to a country that offered more opportunities for their children. “I remember my father saying he stepped off the plane with four suitcases, four children, and $200.”
His gratitude for his life in Australia is unwavering. He praises it as “such a fantastic country,” and he does not miss his parents' sacrifices.
“I remember catching a rickshaw to school back in Calcutta when I was eight years old and seeing beggars and kids sitting on planks of wood and carpet riddled with polio. You suddenly realise what a different world you are in and how lucky you are to be here!”
His childhood experiences in a third-world country contributed to his gratitude for his lifestyle, country, and ability to do what he was doing. These early experiences inspired Gomes to make a life around giving back.
Starting Heart of Australia:
“One great benefit of not having much is that you don’t have much to lose - “I didn’t have a reputation to lose or any money to lose”, Gomes explained when talking about the moment he decided to create the Heart of Australia “Heart Truck.”
“I was getting to the end of my cardiology training and looking to give back to a country that had given me everything.” The Heart Bus was launched in 2014. To get to this point, he had campaigned for the Federal Government, secured some like-minded sponsors, and remortgaged his family home.
“Studying engineering previously is instilled in your being. Engineers, they like to make things happen,” Gomes explained.
The idea came to him while working as a junior doctor in the regional areas. He noticed the lack of services firsthand and wondered how to bring specialists with their equipment to the region.
“For cardiology, it’s not just a stethoscope; it’s a treadmill and stuff you can’t fit into a suitcase and take on a plane - so why not the back of a truck?” The engineer in him had asked. “In engineering, you look at the problem and try to map out the steps and what options you have in front of you to achieve that.”
The truck started off servicing five towns with two specialists. Now, they are up to 33 towns and have 23 specialists. They are about to launch a fifth truck complete with a CT Scanner.
Mixing creativity and data:
Medicine is built on data, studies, trials, and more studies, but Gomes suggests it was mixing medicine with an engineering background that got the truck onto the road. “Stepping out of the traditional mindset into a more innovative mindset can be difficult,” Gomes explained.
In 2011, he saw a paper published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. It said if you lived outside of major cities, you were 44% more likely to die of heart disease. “I thought in a first-world country, we can probably do a bit better than that.”
“There have been studies, and blue papers, and white papers, and pillars, and pathway documents talking about making health care more accessible. I was quite happy for people to keep doing the research, but I just wanted to get going and make sure people weren’t dying in the meantime.”
Gomes explained that medicine is a very traditional profession, and you can understand why. You are dealing with human lives, so you want to ensure you are not pushing the boundaries too far. However, Gomes suggests that when you take the logistical aspects of a trade like engineering and mix them with medicine, innovation happens.
“People, I think, have an over-reliance on data. Data has a role and is very useful, so don’t get me wrong! But you hear very profound sayings, like “without the data, all you have is an opinion”, and the truth is data has no relevance to the imagination.”
Data tells you the facts, which is very important, especially in medicine. Still, it takes imagination to dream new ways of doing things, innovate, and chase aspirational goals.
“Having a good imagination and creativity has very little to do with data. It’s something that I don't think people appreciate. Data can tell you where you’ve been and provide some guidance of where to go, but having the imagination and the courage to follow it is also very beneficial.”
How finding your ‘why’ can help you lead a burnout-free career:
Dr Rolf Gomes works tirelessly; he started the Heart Truck in 2014 and still works in it today. He tucks his children into bed at night and then goes off to the hospital for a nine-hour shift, and yet, he has never experienced burnout. Gomes attributes this to staying clear on his “why.”
“The interest in what I was doing was the sustaining factor. You believe in the benefits, and that causes the lines between work and fun to blur. I feel very fortunate to be living in this world, and I enjoy doing my job so much that it’s not a chore to do it.”
Gomes explains that he has never felt at risk of burnout. His parents brought him to this country with nothing and instilled in him gratitude for the country, his job, and an incredible work ethic.
Dr Hazledine explained that he had done extensive research and interviewed many doctors who had experienced burnout. The one thing all the doctors who were not burnt out and thriving had in common was “purpose.”
The one thing the burnt-out doctors had in common was that they had become disconnected from their purpose, causing exhaustion, increased mental distance, and/or feelings of cynicism.
To avoid burnout, don’t just go through the motions, take the time to reflect on the impact that you’ve had. “My purpose protected me the most, focusing on my why. I go out there on the weekend, see 20 patients, and I come back, and I think they are so lucky they turned up for an appointment on the truck - it’s very rewarding,” Gomes explained.
“Around Christmas time, I get sentimental. I often find myself closing my eyes and just thinking about all the faces and conversations I've met on the truck and how very lucky they are to be with their families that time of year.”
Some tips from Dr Rolf Gomes on combating burnout include:
1. Try to recapture that feeling you had while waiting to be called in for your medical school interview. Where was your mind? Where was your heart? You were so excited! Saving people’s lives and easing suffering—this will be great.
2. Try to find social significance and community-oriented work - this creates a healthy existence
3. Accept sometimes you are too busy, and it’s OK to say no.
4. When you spend time with your family, make sure you have quality time with them and are present. You have to make a little sacrifice when you have a family.
Dr Sam Hazledine to Dr Rolf Gomes, “If you could return to your 18-year-old self, what are the three most important things you have learned?”
1. Always maintain honesty and integrity.
2. Do not dismiss your ideas as easily; nurture them and give them a sanctuary. Don’t wait until you’re older to do things. Take action to make them happen.
3. Listen to yourself; what you know as a person, what you enjoy doing. Don’t be pressured into something you are not innately accustomed to.
Dr Sam Hazledine to Dr Rolf Gomes, “How would you like to be remembered?”
“I’d like to be remembered as someone who had the courage to try their best. Someone who tried to follow a moral compass and was mindful that it was pointing in the right direction. A man who stuck to his word and maintained his integrity. Always maintain your integrity. In all your dealings, that is the currency you are trading, and once you have lost that, you have pretty much lost everything.”
Medworld Founder Dr Sam Hazledine caught up with Dr Gomes on his This Generation podcast to discover what drives him, what prompted this innovation, and how he takes care of himself while doing so much.
This article included highlights from the show. Dr Gomes has such a fascinating and inspiring story, so we suggest you also take the time to listen to the whole thing.
