Have you met Dr Aaron Zhang and Dr Jasdeep Sandhu?

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Dr Aaron Zhang was born in China and moved to New Zealand when he was 11 years old. He obtained his medical degree from the University of Otago in New Zealand, and moved to Melbourne. He spent the next few years working in various hospitals around Victoria, before realising that only general practice would allow him to embrace all aspects of medicine. He is married with a newborn son, and hoping to have more children down the track. He tries to do some gardening, fishing and travelling whenever he finds the time.

Aaron  was a Registrar at Blackburn Clinic in 2011 / 2012, and we welcomed him back permanently in 2015.

Jasdeep migrated to Australia in 2005. She studied Public Health at La Trobe University before returning to clinical practice. Since 2010 she has been working as a GP in Gisborne and Mooroolbark, and is delighted to now be able to work close to home. Her interests include women’s health, paediatrics, mental health, preventative and family medicine.  Jasdeep is fluent in English, Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu.

We welcomed Jasdeep to the Blackburn Clinic team in March 2016.

Please view our Autumn 2016 Newsletter for the Question and Answer segment with Aaron and Jasdeep.

Have you been missing out?

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When you mishear you miss out on important pieces of your life.

Blackburn Clinic is pleased to now offer a FREE Hearing Check in our rooms.  A free hearing check is the first step in identifying if you have hearing loss that could be impacting on your main areas of communication.

Signs of hearing loss

  • Do you often ask others to repeat themselves?
  • Do you turn up the TV or Radio louder than others prefer?
  • Is it difficult to hear conversations when there is background noise?
  • Does it seem like others are mumbling when they speak to you?
  • Do you have difficulty following group conversations?

If you answered Yes to any of these questions you are not alone, approximately 1 in 10 people experience some degree of hearing loss.

Please phone Blackburn Clinic reception on 9875 1123 to book your FREE 10 minute hearing check.  You do not need a doctors referral for this appointment.

A trained audiologist from True Hearing will perform the hearing check, and a Blackburn Clinic GP will interpret the result for you immediately afterward.  This service is billed directly to Medicare with no gap to the patient.  If a hearing deficiency is found, further investigations may be warranted.

Dr Melanie Hattotuwa talks about The Menopause

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Dr Melanie Hattotuwa joined the Blackburn Clinic in 2006 and now juggles caring for her two young children while working part time at the practice. She has a special interest in women’s health and paediatrics, although enjoys all aspects of medicine. Melanie feels that The Menopause is a natural part of a woman’s life that is sometimes poorly understood, and has written the following article in an effort to improve understanding and reduce stigma associated with The Menopause.

What is the Menopause?

The menopause is defined as the time around a woman’s last period, which typically happens between the late 40s to early 50s. The average age is 51 years. At this time menstruation can be erratic (pre or peri -menopause) and it is usually considered to be the menopause once there has been at least 12 months of no vaginal bleeding. In less than one percent of women, this happens before the age of 40.

What happens in Menopause?

Experiences in menopause vary widely between different women and from culture to culture. All women however undergo the same basic hormonal changes. Ovulation ceases as the ovaries run out of eggs and the sex hormones of oestrogen and progesterone no longer are produced. The body then responds to these changes in a variety of ways:

- 25% of women do not have any symptoms of menopause

– 50% of women experience some menopausal symptoms

– 25% of women have more severe problems.

It is important to recognise that not all symptoms experienced at this time can be attributed to menopause. Some are just part of the normal ageing process.

To read the remainder of this article please view our Summer 2015/16 Newsletter.