The Doctors’ Health Advisory Service (NSW) aims to ensure that every doctor, dentist, veterinarian or student in these professions has ready access to health care.
The service offers a telephone helpline for personal and confidential advice for practitioners and students in NSW. Phone (02) 9437 6552.
The helpline handles calls relating to stress and mental illness, drug and alcohol problems, or personal and financial difficulties. No problem is too trivial or too serious. Staff and volunteer doctors can provide advice and referrals if required.
The Doctors’ Health Advisory Service recommends that doctors have their own general practitioner and see him/her promptly if you are unwell – as William Osler said ‘a physician who treats himself has a fool for a patient’.
The Medical Board of Australia funds similar initiatives across Australia.