Mastering Intensive Care

From finish-line highs to injury, doubt, and rebuilding. Over two years ago, Run Larapinta ended in triumph. But the months that followed brought injury, uncertainty, and a slow road back to running. In this episode, I reconnect with fellow intensivist Ed Litton to reflect on what really happened after we crossed the finish line. The original Mastering Intensive Challenges - Run Larapinta series,...

The guest on this episode is Dr Forbes McGain, who speaks about what sustainability really means in healthcare, and why it's inseparable from good medicine. Drawing on his clinical work, research, and experience during COVID-19, Forbes explores how everyday ICU decisions carry environmental consequences, how "less is more" can benefit both patients and the planet, and how sustainability can align...

The guest on this episode is Dr Nhi Nguyen, who as a six-year-old escaped Vietnam by boat. Today, she is an intensivist, a healthcare leader, and a voice for purpose and compassion in medicine. Dr Nhi Nguyen is the Clinical Director of Intensive Care NSW and served as the state's ICU Clinical Advisor during the COVID-19 response. She is closely involved in the Single Digital Patient Record program...

The guest on this episode is Professor Rob Mac Sweeney, who founded and leads the hugely valuable organisation Critical Care Reviews . Rob is   a Consultant Intensivist at the Royal Victoria Hospital and an Honorary Professor of Practice at Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Rob founded Critical Care Reviews  back in 2008 and this has grown to now be holding two meetings a year where...

This episode is a rebroadcast of Episode 3 (from 2017) featuring the late Professor Rinaldo Bellomo, who unexpectedly died in May 2025. There is also a personal tribute from me. Andrew Davies

In this episode, you'll hear from a wise and thoughtful paediatric intensivist. Michael Clifford is a Paediatric Intensivist and Anaesthetist from the Royal Children's Hospital and Monash Childrens Hospital, Melbourne. Mike has recently finished his term as a CICM Examiner for both the Paediatric Fellowship and the CICM Primary exams. He is a keen teacher with a passion for the basic sciences and...

My guest in this episode is Dr Jeram Hyde, an intensivist in Newcastle with a special interest in teaching non-technical skills. Jeram is the force behind an annual Trainee Education Day, run by the John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle, and which I attended this year. Jeram has been building this meeting over recent years from a single ICU's annual meeting to educate their trainees on non-clinical to...

My guest in this episode is Dr Emily Amos, a general practitioner and a passionate educator on mindfulness in Melbourne. Emily might not be an intensivist but she is a doctor with a powerful burnout story that led to her becoming an enthusiastic guide and teacher about mindfulness and self care. Emily has roles as a GP, a surgical assistant, a lactation consultant, a yoga teacher, a university tut...

My guest in this episode is Dr Peter Brindley, an intensivist in Edmonton, Canada. Peter is a tenured full Professor of Critical Care Medicine, Anesthesiology, and Medical Ethics, with over 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts, over 30 book chapters, and over 100 other articles, including regular opinion pieces for the British Medical Journal. He has written one book and co-hosts a podcast ( The Critical...

Mastering Intensive Care is back after a long hiatus between episodes, and a fun divergence into a series about at athletic adventure. This episode features Dr Andrew Holt, a highly experienced intensivist at Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide, who was one of the mentors who significantly shaped my career. You'll discover why Andrew was pivotal in my journey, what he sees as the key aspects of a...

Thank you for listening to the ninth and final episode of the Mastering Intensive Challenges - Run Larapinta series. If you've listened to the series, you'll know my friend Ed Litton and I entered a four-day stage trail running event, the Run Larapinta Stage Race, and ran, climbed, descended, scrambled and walked with 200 other enthusiastic participants along a mountainous and rugged trail in the...

This is the 8th episode of the "Mastering Intensive Challenges - Run Larapinta" series and if you've been listening to the previous ones, you'll know that this episode is coming out after the four day stage race that fellow intensivist Ed Litton and I set ourselves the challenge of running many months ago. Two Intensive Care doctors, both novices at trail running, looking for something moderately...

Fellow intensivist Ed Litton and I signed up for a big challenge 10 months ago when we registered to run in the Run Larapinta, a 4-day stage race in central Australia. We've both completed many endurance events, however neither of us have done any serious trail running nor have we ever run 130km in 4 days on a rocky and mountainous trail like the beautiful Larapinta trail in the Northern Territory...

To help Ed Litton and I get really prepared for the Run Larapinta stage race we are only a few weeks away from competing in, today we bring a seasoned ultra trail running doctor on to the podcast to share her advice. In this sixth episode of the Mastering Intensive Challenges series, we welcome Dr Cheryl Martin, who is an Emergency Medicine specialist, a podcaster and has huge experience in trail...

This is the fifth episode in the Mastering Intensive Care - Run Larapinta series. Ed Litton and I are back on opposite sides of Australia, and neither of us has had the perfect three weeks since we last chatted. There are now less than seven weeks until the event starts, so we chat about our training, then swing over to what we are each thinking about the logistical challenges we will be presented...

Here is another episode in the Mastering Intensive Care - Run Larapinta series. For this one, I travelled to Perth to meet with my Run Larapinta co-participant Ed Litton and to head out for a few runs together over a three day weekend. We also set up the microphones to update each other with our preparations and to discuss our perspectives on the social aspects of exercise, mainly endurance sport....

This is a follow on episode as Ed Litton and I continue our discussion about the Run Larapinta Stage Race we will be participating in soon. Ed and I tell each other how our running training is going. Then we talk about our general views on nutrition and sleep, especially as we lead into a multi-day endurance event. One of us has picked up a little niggle. And each of us has a different approach to...

This episode features the wise perspectives of an Advanced Trainee in Intensive Care Medicine, Dr William Bonavia. The discussion covers: Why he chose medicine and Intensive Care His training journey and his learning strategy What makes a good ward round Learning from colleagues The principles of good communication and collaboration The value of work being fun Making mistakes Dealing with the pres...

In this second of a different style episode, Ed Litton and I continue our discussion about the Run Larapinta Stage Race we will be embarking on in August 2023.  Ed and I talk about our preparation and then tell each other why we run, and what we get out of it. Ed is a multi-sport endurance athlete whose reasons for getting out in nature are deep and truly inspiring. We hope you'll enjoy hearing th...

This episode features the memories, experiences and wisdom of Dr Lindsay 'Tub' Worthley, AM. The discussion covers the following: Tub's training to become an intensivist when no specific training existed His experience at a time when Australian ICUs were in their infancy The difference between the beginning and the end of his clinical career His eventual transition to retirement His writing of tex...

We are trying something different on Mastering Intensive Care. My friend and fellow intensivist Ed Litton has cajoled me into joining him in a running event. We will be running the Run Larapinta Stage Race in August 2023. In this episode, we commence a mini-series discussing our lead up to the event. Ed and I have different backgrounds as amateur endurance event participants, and in this episode,...

This episode features the thoughts and perspectives of A/Prof Chris Nickson. The topics covered include: How Chris became an intensivist and then an educator How he began working on Life In The Fast Lane (LITFL) The network of Clinical Educators he leads and the "Incubator" program Simulation and debriefing The current place of FOAM and podcasts in education What he tries to achieve on his ward ro...

Mastering Intensive Care is returning from being offline for a full 12 months. In this episode, I ask you to ponder, "how are you going?" after the lengthy pandemic, which has lulled after the worst of the storm but has not yet settled into a state of calm. Whilst few intensive care clinicians have actively diminished what we've been through over the last few years, the relentless world of Intensi...

This episode focuses on learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic. Important lessons our global Intensive Care community, your local ICU and you personally might take away from what the novel coronavirus has caused - at least so far. Previous episodes of this series (a series best listened to in episode order) have allowed you to hear the experiences of busy ICU clinicians, the work of an ICU clinical...

Intensive Care clinicians are used to being busy. Critically ill patients constantly arrive in the ICU with no awareness of staff workload at that moment. So being busy has not been the major problem of the COVID-19 pandemic. The difficult emotional responses to physical exhaustion, mental strain, heart-breaking human loss and the unpredictability of SARS-CoV-2 have been significant, and the commo...