Captain Stirling Medical Centre offers a comprehensive range of medical care and attention to our community as well as special interest in women’s health, family health, counselling, childhood immunisation and vaccination, yearly Flu vaccinations, travel vaccinations including Yellow Fever, health screening and prevention, skin disorders and diagnosis of moles and sun spots, minor surgery, ECG’s, hearing tests and Spirometry.
Recreational Diving Medicals, Aviation (Pilot) Medicals, Insurance and Employment Medicals are also provided here. Workers Compensation injuries and Motor Vehicle accidents are also treated at this surgery.
Healthy Kids Check
The aim of the Healthy Kids Check is to ensure every four year old child in Australia has a basic health check to see if they are healthy, fit and ready to learn when they start school. It promotes early detection of lifestyle risk factors, delayed development and illness, and introduce guidance for healthy lifestyles and early intervention strategies. The Healthy Kids Check can be provided by a GP or practice nurse and is to be delivered in conjunction with the four year old immunisation.
Eligibility
All four year old children who are permanently resident in Australia or covered by a Reciprocal Health Care Agreement
Available once only for any eligible patient.
45 – 49 year old Health Check
The health check is available to people between 45 and 49 years of age (inclusive) who are at risk of developing a chronic disease. The decision about whether an individual is at risk of developing a chronic disease rests with the clinical judgement of the GP, but a specific risk factor must be identified. Factors that the GP may consider include, but are not limited to:
lifestyle risk factors, such as smoking, physical inactivity, poor nutrition or alcohol misuse;
biomedical risk factors, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, impaired glucose metabolism or excess weight; and
family history of a chronic disease
Health Assessments for Older Persons
An Older Person’s Health Assessment is an annual in‐depth assessment of an older patient 75 years and over. The health assessment provides a structured way of identifying health issues and conditions that are potentially preventable or amenable to interventions in order to improve health and/or quality of life. The purpose of this health assessment is to help identify any risk factors exhibited by an elderly patient that may require further health management. In addition to assessing a person’s health status, a health assessment is used to identify a broad range of factors that influence a person’s physical, psychological and social functioning.
Enhanced Primary Care
Enhanced Primary Care ie when your doctor coordinates the development of team care arrangements consisting of allied health practitioners and specialists to help with successful management and care of your health needs.
Your GP will work out a care plan that is best suited to your needs in regards to managing your health needs. Once your Enhanced Primary Care Plan is in place, you will be able to access eligible allied health service identified in the plan on referral from your GP.
Aviation Medicals
Dr Michael Benson is a Designated Aviation Medical Examiner (DAME) for your Aviation Medical examination requirements.
In order for a pilot or an ATC to exercise the privileges of their license, they must hold a current medical certificate.
Each application is considered by medical officers in this section who are specialists in the field of Aviation Medicine. These doctors assess how medical conditions and treatments of pilot applicants might affect the safety of air navigation. They determine if any additional measures or restrictions are needed on a pilot’s medical certificate to protect air safety. Their perspective may be different to that of the treating doctors’ whose main interest is the clinical area and health of the patient.
Click here for How to Get a Medical Certificate
Dive Medical Examination
The Dive Medical is only to be conducted by Dr Michael Benson who has undertaken the approved training to medically examine recreational divers.
The Dive Medical is basically an assessment of the ability of the diver to survive unexpected underwater or on-surface emergencies, and the risk of death, unconsciousness, impaired judgement, disorientation, impaired mobility, or decompression sickness that may be associated with diving with a particular condition or disorder.
As a general part of the examination, age factors and overall physical fitness are assessed, as well as vision function, ear nose and throat condition, hearing, dental condition, balance, blood pressure, lung function, musculo-skeletal function, and the gastro-intestinal tract.
A urine test will also be carried out to detect previously undiagnosed conditions including diabetes and pregnancy.
Any conditions or disorders highlighted as a result of the Medical Questionnaire will also be clinically assessed in terms of the risk that they pose to the diver, as will any medications currently being taken by the diver. The latter is particularly important in terms of decompression sickness risk, nitrogen narcosis, and the cardiovascular, respiratory or neurological side-effect risks associated with the medications being used in underwater and compressed air environments.
Certain medical conditions develop with age, and the physiological strain of regular diving can damage the body , so a further dive medical examination is recommended every 5 years for those under 30 years of age, every 3 years for those 30-50 years of age, and every year for divers over 50 years of age.