The Consult by the Australian Specialist Hub

Épisodes

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  Understanding Urogynaecology in Medico-Legal Matters with Professor Andrew Korda 17.09.2026 15min

  Prof Andrew Korda is a specialist urogynaecologist with extensive experience in pelvic floor medicine and medico-legal practice. She joins Hanna on The Consult to share her journey from obstetrics and gynaecology into urogynaecology and, later, medico-legal work. We discuss the role of urogynaecology in assessing conditions such as pelvic organ prolapse, urinary and faecal incontinence and pelvic floor dysfunction, as well as how these conditions can feature in injury and medical negligence matters. Prof Korda also reflects on complex cases, including mesh claims, and the challenges of explaining detailed medical evidence in a way that is clear and useful to lawyers and the court. We explore the importance of well-structured Letters of Instruction, navigating extensive medical records and asking the right questions when seeking a specialist opinion. A great listen for lawyers, case managers and claims professionals working on matters involving women’s health and complex medico-legal assessments.
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  Beyond the Black and White: Neurology and Medico-Legal Matters with Dr Christopher Kwan 13.09.2026 19min

  Dr Christopher Kwan is a neurologist with an interest in the practical problem-solving and complexity that make neurology such a diverse specialty. He joins Hanna on The Consult to discuss his journey into neurology and his experience working in the medico-legal space. We explore the range of matters that can come before a neurologist, including workplace and motor vehicle accidents, post-head injury symptoms, chronic pain and questions of causation. Dr Kwan explains why neurology can involve significant grey areas, where imaging and investigations may not provide a definitive answer and need to be considered alongside the clinical history and examination. He also discusses the distinction between neurology and neurosurgery, what makes a clear and readable medico-legal report, and why concise Letters of Instruction can make it easier to answer the questions that matter. A valuable listen for lawyers, case managers and claims professionals working on matters involving neurological conditions and complex medico-legal questions.
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  More Than Sleep Apnoea: Respiratory and Sleep Medicine with Dr Sakhee Kotecha 09.09.2026 21min

  Dr Sakhee Kotecha is a respiratory, sleep and lung transplant physician with more than 15 years in the field. She joins Hanna on The Consult to talk about what drew her from transplant medicine into the medico-legal space and why sleep and respiratory assessments are among the harder ones to get right.We cover why sleep medicine extends well beyond sleep apnoea into insomnia and parasomnias, and the interplay of weight gain, respiratory suppressant medication and sleep-disordered breathing after an injury. Dr Kotecha also walks through occupational lung disease, including silica, organic solvents and the emerging link between workplace exposure and autoimmune lung conditions, plus how she approaches apportionment when smoking and occupational exposure sit side by side.There are also practical notes on what makes a workable letter of instruction, from clear questions over broad ones to which records genuinely change an opinion on the balance of probabilities. A great listen for lawyers, case managers and claims professionals briefing respiratory or sleep matters.
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  The Orthopaedic Surgeons of the Face: Inside Maxillofacial Assessment with Dr David Sherring 26.08.2026 27min

  Maxillofacial surgery sits in a place no other specialty does — the only practitioners in Australia required to hold both a dental degree and a medical degree. In this episode of The Consult, Hanna Barclay is joined by Dr David Sherring, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon and past president of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.Dr Sherring traces a path that began with a dental degree he didn't much enjoy, took him into the army and a deployment to Rwanda, and led him back to medicine.The conversation turns practical on briefs. Dr Sherring talks through the material he most often finds missing: dental records from before the injury, and psychological diagnoses in matters where a temporomandibular disorder is said to have a psychological origin.For lawyers, insurers and claims professionals briefing in the maxillofacial space, this episode is a clear guide to what belongs in the brief and which questions this specialty is actually positioned to answer.
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  Inside the Examination Room: Hand and Wrist Assessment with Dr Mark Nabarro 21.08.2026 20min

  A first aid course in high school is what pointed Dr Mark Nabarro at medicine. Orthopaedics came halfway through training, hands came from a term at a Macquarie Street hand unit, and a mentor's phone call sent him to Indianapolis for a year. He's now an orthopaedic surgeon whose practice focuses on the hand and wrist, and he joins Aus Hub Director Hanna Barclay to talk about that path and what it's like to build medico-legal work alongside a clinical and operating list.In this episode we cover where orthopaedic hand work and plastic and reconstructive work overlap and where they don't, and the mix that comes through the door — tradies, angle grinders and chainsaws at one end, arthritis and carpal tunnel at the other, and the bloke on the ladder who nobody talks out of it.Dr Nabarro walks through his examination room; he also makes the case for a better brief: full clinical history, prior examinations, other opinions, and specific questions rather than the same question asked four different ways. If you brief upper limb assessments, this is a plain account of what a hand and wrist examination actually involves and how to write a referral that gets you an answer to the question you asked.
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  Building the Picture: OT in the Medico-Legal Space with Adam Baldock 05.08.2026 18min

  Adam Baldock didn't plan to become an occupational therapist. He started his first business at 12 cleaning chemist bottles, trained as a wedding coordinator, and was rejected by physiotherapy before finding his way into OT — a decision he's never looked back on. With 24 years of experience and a specialisation in medico-legal assessment, Adam is one of Australian Specialist Hub's most trusted OT experts.In this episode, Hanna and Adam walk through what a thorough OT assessment actually involves — a process covering clinical interview, standardised testing, physical assessment, and a full home tour. Adam explains why assessments must happen in the home, how he builds rapport with clients who arrive defensive or distressed, and what separates an 80-page report that gets used from one that gets flipped straight to the summary. He also shares his areas of special interest: complex PTSD, institutional abuse, and autism — the last one shaped significantly by his lived experience as a parent.Some of Adam's most memorable cases have played out in conditions most people would find overwhelming. He shares the story of a client who accused him of siding with the defence, and how a three-hour visit and a quiet cup of coffee turned things around. Then there's the NDIS assessment in a home where cockroaches crawled across him mid-interview. His approach in both? Stay calm, stay present, and keep building the picture.If you're an OT sitting on the fence about medico-legal work, or a lawyer or case manager who wants to understand what a high-quality OT assessment actually involves, Adam gives you the honest, practical picture.
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  Beyond the Assessment: How Occupational Therapy Shapes Complex Legal Matters with Madelaine DeFazio 02.08.2026 19min

  In this episode of The Consult, we sit down with occupational therapist Madelaine DeFazio to explore what it really means to practise OT in the medico-legal space. Madelaine shares how her career took a turn from exercise science to OT — and why she's never looked back after eight years in the field.We unpack the difference between functional capacity assessments and activities of daily living assessments, what referring lawyers and case managers should know before sending a client Madelaine's way, and why she believes quality over quantity is non-negotiable — even if that means 20-plus hours on a single report.Madelaine also opens up about the cases that have stayed with her, including one extraordinary individual who turned a life-altering injury into a platform for disability advocacy. Whether you're a lawyer, case manager, or a fellow OT considering a move into medico-legal work — a must-listen for anyone in the medico-legal space.
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  Brains, Borders & the Bush: Meet Neurosurgeon Dr. Ameya Kamat 22.07.2026 24min

  In this episode of the Consult, we sit down with Dr. Ameya Kamat — neurosurgeon, trailblazer and one of Aus Hub's IMEs.Dr. Kamat finished high school at 14, trained across South Africa, the Caribbean, the US, and Australia, and now splits his time between the Northern Territory and private practice — bringing world-class neurosurgical care to some of the most remote communities in the country.We cover his work practising neurosurgery in the desert, a training program teaching general surgeons emergency brain surgery in Alice Springs, and why he believes people in the NT deserve the same quality of healthcare as anyone else in Australia.We also get into the medical-legal space — what's consistently misunderstood, why integrity matters above all else, and the real difference between neurosurgeons and orthopaedic surgeons when it comes to spinal surgery.A conversation that cuts through the complexity of neurosurgery, medical-legal reporting, and what it really means to practise medicine in remote Australia.
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  From the Himalayas to the Courtroom | Dr Trish Batchelor on Occupational Medicine 15.07.2026 25min

  In this episode of The Consult, host Hanna sits down with Dr Trish Batchelor, Occupational and Environmental Physician and dual-qualified GP, whose career has taken her from trekking clinics at 4,500 metres in Nepal to the offices of the Australian Federal Police and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.Dr Batchelor shares the winding path that led her from general practice and travel medicine to becoming one of Australia's specialists in occupational and environmental medicine — and why that broad foundation makes all the difference in the medico-legal space.She unpacks what sets occupational physicians apart: a holistic lens that looks beyond the injury to the whole person, their capacity, their context and their connection to work. From long COVID impairment assessments under Victoria's unique occupational infectious disease module, to a fascinating case involving a posting to India, drug-resistant bacteria and a misdiagnosed hepatitis claim — Dr Batchelor shows just how specialised knowledge can change outcomes for real people.If you're a lawyer, insurer or referrer wondering when to reach for an occupational physician — this episode will make it very clear.
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  From the Train Tracks to Treaty — A Story of Cultural Safety with Aus Hub's First Nations Advocate, Jarvis Atkinson 08.07.2026 16min

  This NAIDOC Week, as we celebrate 50 Years of Deadly, we're honoured to share a powerful conversation.Jarvis Atkinson is a Yorta Yorta man from Shepparton and is one of three representatives elected for North East Victoria in the 2026 Treaty elections, a milestone that reflects just how far First Nations leadership and democracy has come.He is also Australian Specialist Hub's First Nations Advocate, and newly elected member of the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria — the body representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.But before all of that, Jarvis felt unknown.He recalls a time where he woke up in St Vincent's Hospital after an overdose. He had been found face down on the train tracks at Flinders Street Station. He looked down at his name tag which read: Unknown.He tells us what that felt like.In this episode, Jarvis walks us through what genuine cultural safety looks like in practice, particularly for organisations conducting assessments with First Nations people, including those who are incarcerated or justice-involved. He also highlights why cultural safety in healthcare is important.He shares practical, honest guidance on body language, communication differences across Mobs, the weight of Sorry Business, and why patience isn't just a virtue when working with First Nations people — it's the whole foundation.This is what 50 Years of Deadly looks like. Jarvis speaks about empowerment not as a buzzword but as a lived practice across health, education, justice. One person, one connection, one conversation at a time. "From strength to strength, we've got to empower them," he says.Whether you work in healthcare, community services, justice, education, or you're simply someone who wants to understand what reconciliation looks like — this episode is for you.
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  Listening to Nerves and Muscles: Inside Neurophysiology and the Cases Behind the Claims 25.06.2026 23min

  In this episode of The Consult by Australian Specialist Hub, Hanna sits down with neurologist and clinical neurophysiologist Dr Janaka Seneviratne to talk about the work behind the diagnosis, and why medico-legal neurology is rarely as straightforward as it looks on paper.Dr Seneviratne shares what first drew him to medicine, a hospital stay in his early teens and the team who looked after him, and how mentors later led him into neurology and neurophysiology. He breaks down the differences that confuse most people: what separates a neurologist from a neurophysiologist, and where neuropsychology fits in, particularly when assessing head injuries and cognitive impairment.He also explains how much neurology has changed over the past 10 to 15 years. The field has grown so much that most neurologists now subspecialise, with separate experts in multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, headache and neuromuscular disease. As a neurophysiologist, Dr Seneviratne makes and confirms the initial diagnosis, then refers patients on to the right colleague or specialist clinic when ongoing, multidisciplinary care is needed, such as the neuromuscular clinic at Bethlehem Hospital for motor neurone disease.Much of the conversation sits in the medico-legal space, where Dr Seneviratne has worked for more than a decade alongside his private practice. He explains how he uses both clinical skill and EMG and nerve conduction studies to diagnose nerve and muscle disorders, and shares two cases that stayed with him: a woman in her 30s referred for a concussion injury who turned out to have multiple sclerosis, and a manual worker referred for a fitness for duty assessment whose symptoms pointed to motor neurone disease. In both, an independent assessment fast tracked the right diagnosis and treatment, a reminder that early intervention can be life changing.We also get into the duty of care that independent medical examiners carry, including the spots and red flags that surface during an assessment for something else entirely, from an advanced melanoma noticed on the skin to an orthopaedic problem picked up in a psychiatric review. Dr Seneviratne puts it, if something does not sit right with the presentation, you have to do the right thing by the patient.For referrers, Dr Seneviratne offers practical advice on writing a clear letter of instruction: send all the supporting documents ahead of time, and be specific about what you want assessed and commented on. He also unpacks one of the trickiest diagnoses in his field, thoracic outlet syndrome, the difference between the neurogenic and vascular components, why nerve conduction studies alone are not always conclusive, and what makes impairment assessment so difficult under the AMA guides.For any neurologist sitting on the fence about medico-legal work, Dr Seneviratne makes the case for giving it a go. The conditions may be familiar, but the work is different, the cases are varied, and you never quite know what is coming through the door.Whether you are a referrer, a fellow specialist weighing up the medico-legal scope, or simply curious about how we listen to nerves and muscles, there is plenty here.About Australian Specialist HubAustralian Specialist Hub connects referrers with leading independent medical experts across a wide range of specialties, including neurology and neurophysiology. If you have a medico-legal matter that needs the right specialist, we make the referral process clear and straightforward.Links: LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/company/australian-specialist-hub-ash-medicolegal Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61567624676000Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aushub_ash/To make a referral or learn more, visit https://aushub.com.au/ or get in touch with our team at 1800 287 482 or [email protected]. Subscribe and follow The Consult for more conversations with the specialists behind the assessments.