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Dr Overvliet
Simply being able to help people is the main reason Dr Patricia Overvliet started her career in medicine.
“I truly am privileged when I am able to make a difference in the lives of my patients and in the end helping people is the simplest and most profound reason for me being a doctor,” she said.
Dr Overvliet is a GP at Central Wellbeing who enjoys “all aspects of being a GP.”
“I love working out challenging problems,” she said.
“I love working with children and their parents as I feel that as a parent myself I can truly understand the distress when your child is sick.
“I enjoy supporting women through their pregnancy and if you ask our staff, nothing can distract me more than a new little bub.”
When it comes to health in the Wagga region Dr Overvliet can’t stress enough the importance of sun protection and the risk of asthma.
She encourages everyone to get checked out at your GP if you have any signs of asthma like a persistent cough, wheeze or have shortness of breath.
“People can delay too long to see a GP, even though they suspect something is wrong. I will always make room in my diary to see a sick child or asthmatic patient.
“Your health can’t wait, prevention is still the most powerful tool in medicine.”
Dr Purnell
Improving the lives of her patients is what keeps Dr Tracey Purnell motivated and what made her become a doctor.
“My desire is for all my patients to leave my room feeling better than when they came in,” she said.
“That’s what I love about being a doctor. It is an incredibly rewarding profession.”
Dr Purnell is a GP and practice owner at Central Wellbeing and has a keen interest in women’s health, pregnancy care, cosmetic medicine and skin cancer medicine.
“The skin is the largest organ of the body, so it requires special care and attention. Adding cosmetic medicine to my practice was a natural progression from my work in skin cancer medicine,” she said.
“I am proud to be a leader in a growing group of doctors who take a more natural approach to cosmetic medicine, looking to repair and restore what time has taken away.”
During her career, Dr Purnell has found patients searching their condition on unreliable websites can be an issue.
“Most of the information found on Google has been written by someone who does not always have the patient’s best interests at heart,” she said.
“Having said that, we are a very health-literate society and I appreciate that patients come to me with a high level of knowledge of their condition. It’s important to build on this knowledge.”