Dr Elise Putt

What was your first job?

My real first job, as a teen, was at a café and bakery, where I grew up, in Sydney. Making (probably awful) coffee and sandwiches, and eating far too many cakes and pastries. At the end of year 12 I actually wasn’t sure whether I wanted to become a doctor or a pastry chef.

What are your current roles? What made you decide to pursue these?

I am currently the podcast co-host and Chief Operations Officer of Creative Careers in Medicine. I locum as a medical registrar and have had a variety of experiences in different hospitals and systems. I’m currently working at medical centre at a ski clinic which is more ED/GP work. 

After completing my JMO years, I moved to Sydney to pursue paediatric training and quickly figured out that this wasn’t something I could see myself doing long term. I had some really good advice from my DPET to take time off and to not rush my decision by jumping straight into another training program. I began to explore other options and pursued the Startmate Fellowship and a product internship at a Healthtech company. These experiences furthered my interest in the Healthtech and start-up world and taught me about the importance of assessing your values and aligning these with your career.

Throughout this time, I’ve had periods of clinical and non-clinical work, however, I have come to really value my clinical skills and it’s become increasingly important to me that I maintain some component of clinical work.

How would you describe what you do now?

Currently working at a ski clinic, I see a variety of snow sport related injuries as well as lower acuity GP presentations. On my days off, I ski and do a mix of CCIM things! From organising conferences, to planning webinars and interviewing guests for the podcast!

How would someone interested in your field get started or find more information?

Having conversations with like-minded people and finding people that you align with is a great place to start. The Creative Careers in Medicine community really opened my eyes to all the possibilities outside of clinical work when that was all I had been exposed to. Finding like-minded people can be difficult, but speaking up about what you’re interested in, even if it’s not the norm, is key, because that’s how you find those other people. 

What was one really good piece of advice someone has told you?

I got some really good advice from Dr Sandro Demaio (now the CEO of Vic Health) when I was a medical student. His key message, that I’ve returned to over and over again over the years, is around the concept of equifinality, which basically means that there’s a lot of ways to get to the same place. 

Don’t worry too much about finding the perfect path to whatever end goal you’re aiming for. You can have a tortuous journey and still end up at the same place and have learned and gained so much more from all the different experiences you have along the way. You don’t necessarily know what you’re going to gain from each experience when you start out.

Was there a turning point in your career where you decided to pursue your chosen field over traditional medicine? What was it?

I think my feelings of wanting to try something different were there all along. I tried to not give those thoughts too much power because I thought I needed a really clear answer about what my alternate goal was if I was to leave clinical medicine. After leaving paediatrics, I was feeling quite lost and quite unsure because anytime I’d ever actually felt unsure, I’d lean back on that back up plan of ‘I’ll just do paediatrics’. It took me a very long time to accept that I don’t need a clear answer or need to jump straight into something else. Medicine offers so much flexibility in that regard. Locum-ing has allowed me to explore not only other hospital cultures and systems, but it’s also enabled me to pursue my other interests whilst maintaining my clinical knowledge.

What hobbies/interests do you have outside of work?

I really like being outside and active, I am a big fan of running and Pilates. I am currently doing a lot of ski-ing, and I recently ran a marathon, which was a huge achievement for me and lots of fun! I also love travelling and music/concerts, especially Taylor Swift. 

How do you manage work/life balance? 

I am in a very privileged position with my work where I can line up breaks in between my locum work to catch up/focus on my other interests.  The ebb and flow nature of my work has given me the ability to maintain a healthy work/life balance. 

When busy with work, I really prioritise making time for myself, exercise or movement of some form is something I rarely skip as it makes me feel so much better.