Major is a flying doctor
When someone asks Jodie Forlonge what she does for a living, she can pick from two adrenaline-charged jobs.
For 20 years she has been in the Australian Defence Force, becoming an army major and flying Black Hawk helicopters in deployments to Afghanistan, New Guinea, the South Pacific and East Timor.
But her career has taken on a new dimension since she graduated as a doctor, giving her what she describes as the ultimate dream career.
Dr Forlonge is one of 112 new interns who started at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital this year and, at 37, she is one of the oldest.
She did her medical degree at Notre Dame University, sponsored by the military to which she plans to return after her internship and residency.
"I always wanted to be a doctor when I was at school, I just knew that's where I wanted to end up, but I also wanted to work in the military, so I went straight there from high school," she said.
"I became a Black Hawk pilot and though I loved my job, I got to the point where it was now or never if I was to become a doctor."
Dr Forlonge's first placement as an intern has been in general surgery, and while she has not ruled out becoming a GP, she has been instantly attracted to interventional work and could see herself as a surgeon's assistant.
She has also noticed some parallels between medical specialties and her "other job".
"Anaesthesia, for example, it is a lot like flying," she said.
"Putting someone under is a bit like the take-off, being sedated is like the flight, and someone coming out of anaesthesia is like preparing to land," she said.
"In both you need to be able to make decisions quickly, and communication is really important."
Dr Forlonge said her mature age as an intern meant she was sometimes mistaken as the specialist or senior doctor. But she said her age and life experiences in the military helped her.
"When you're on the wards you really notice that it's easier to talk to patients because you're not afraid to talk about things that someone younger might not feel comfortable handling," she said.
Although born and bred in NSW, she says she loves WA and has no plans to leave.
