Britney Westbook after completing her ANZCP exams to become a qualified Cardiovascular Perfusionist. Photo / Supplied
Britney Westbook after completing her ANZCP exams to become a qualified Cardiovascular Perfusionist. Photo / Supplied
Waikato DHB is future-proofing its training programme for a medical profession which is in extremely high demand, yet so unknown it once appeared as a question on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
The DHB has trained its first perfusionist, Britney Westbrook, in over 12 years, with Waikato Hospital nowemploying six of fewer than 140 certified perfusionists across Australasia.
Perfusionists are high in demand and play an important role during heart surgery, running the cardiopulmonary bypass machine, also known as the heart-lung machine.
The machine temporarily keeps blood circulating while the surgical team works on the patient's heart. Perfusionists are also involved in delivering chemotherapy to patients with advanced cancers.
The cardiopulmonary bypass machine (heart-lung machine) in action. Photo / Supplied
Westbrook recently graduated from the Australian and New Zealand College of Perfusionists (ANZCP) and took home three major awards at the ANZCP's 37th Annual Scientific Meeting in November, where she was also elected as registrar of ANZCP's six-person executive committee.
The awards she received were:
• LivaNova Syd Yarrow Award (awarded to the student member of the college who has made the best presentation at the Annual Scientific Meeting).
• ABCP Scholarship Award (awarded to the student who achieves the highest mark in the ABCP Certification Examinations).
• ANZCP Gazette Award (awarded by the editorial committee for outstanding contribution to the gazette).
Cardiothoracic surgery clinical director David McCormack says: "A lot of perfusionists in Australasia are recruited offshore because Australasia does not have enough training centres.
"But the department committed to providing its own training programme around two-and-a-half years ago to help address a major shortage of perfusionists across Australasia."
Just 12 people applied for the initial intake.
Westbrook stumbled upon the profession only by chance when she explored some of the many roles available at the hospital after completing a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacology at the University of Auckland.
"I came across perfusion and thought 'Wow, what's that massive machine? That looks amazing.' They're keeping the patient alive and that hooked me from the start," she said.
She began volunteering with the team once a week and when the trainee position opened up, she was "over the moon, to say the least".
DHB's co-chief perfusionists Emma Peplow and Jack Bhana with Britney Westbrook (centre). Photo / Supplied
The DHB's co-chief perfusionists, Jack Bhana and Emma Peplow, led the two-year training programme.
Now Westbrook is assisting in the training of a second recruit who was chosen from a group of around 70 applicants.
McCormack attributes the significant increase in applications to a growing awareness of perfusion.
