Dr Andrew Finckh has worked as an emergency physician at St Vincent's for 15 years. The days are long and the patients are countless, but the work is extremely satisfying.
2pm First cab off the rank is 15-year-old Lara, who has a badly infected ear piercing and happens to be a long-time family friend. Finckh tends to avoid treating friends but Lara's injury is relatively minor.
He spends the next hour advising junior doctors on how to diagnose and treat patients. These one-on-one consultations are an essential part of a young doctor's education and make up a major part of Finckh's role at St Vincent's.
4pm After a quiet start to the afternoon, the ED staff are suddenly thrown into the fast lane - within the space of an hour three seriously ill patients are rushed in by paramedics. But weekly training exercises have prepared Finckh and his team for high-pressure situations like this. Preparedness and trust are key.
One of the patients is a local man in his 50s, who has spent four days laying semi-conscious in his apartment. His muscles have started to break down and he can hardly speak, let alone explain what happened. He is given intravenous fluids and undergoes a series of tests.
6.30pm It is time for Finckh to do a "ward round" with a senior nurse, where they discuss the status of each of the 40-50 patients currently in the ED. Some debriefs take 30 seconds, others take 10 minutes; this is no quick task.
8pm The waiting room is becoming increasingly full and Finckh must begin to prioritise patients based on waiting time, treatment time and severity of the injury or illness.
He attends to a range of cases, including a pole dancer with a dislocated pinky toe, a young man with a bad case of pneumonia, and a toddler who has faceplanted while eating strawberry ice-cream (it's messy).
10pm Finckh checks back in with the local man who was admitted earlier. Tests show he overdosed on prescription drugs. It emerges that this was a self-harm attempt, so in addition to restoring his physical health, the man will receive mental health support over the coming days.
Finckh admits some cases resonate with him - often the ones you'd least expect, he says. But it is important not to become too emotionally invested: "It's like a pilot responding to an mid-air disaster," he says. "You don't want someone who is going to lose their head, you want someone who knows the procedure."
11pm A final ward round before Finckh hands to the night team. Things can go pear-shaped overnight, so it is important to ensure all patients are receiving the care they need.
12.15am Finckh clocks off, finishing the day with a late-night bowl of cereal.
