New podcast series aims to help you prepare for surgery

27 June 2024
'So You Need An Operation' podcast co-hosts A/Prof Christine Ball and Dr Jamie Smart
'So You Need An Operation' podcast co-hosts A/Prof Christine Ball and Dr Jamie Smart

Patients preparing for surgery and other health procedures now have a valuable new resource, with the launch of podcast series ‘So You Need An Operation’ from Alfred Health anaesthesiologist duo A/Prof Christine Ball and Dr Jamie Smart.

Co-host Dr Smart said that the podcast series, which has released ten episodes so far, particularly aims to help patients to better understand their full medical journey.

“I think we realized that there wasn’t much out there for patients which explained the whole journey,” said Dr Smart. “Patients would get information about specific things like quitting smoking or the type of surgical procedure they’re having, but there's so much more to the whole patient journey.

“So that was where the idea for the podcast started.”

Having already covered topics such as preparing for surgery, anaesthesia and pain management, A/Prof Ball hopes that patient feedback will set the direction of future instalments.

“For the podcast, we really aimed for around 15-20 minutes for each episode on specific things that patients might want to know, but we’ve also created a website so that patients can ask their own questions as well,” said A/Prof Ball.

“What patients really want to know could be entirely different to what we might be thinking, so the podcast is great for how it also gives us a way of interacting with patients where they can respond and offer feedback.”

To learn more about the podcast, visit soyouneedanoperation.org.au and start listening today below.

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