‘Even if I won the Lotto, I would do the same’: Dr Anju Aggarwal profile

After her final medical exam wrapped up at Rohtak University in India, Dr Anju Aggarwal wasted little time before boarding a flight to Australia.
 
Just over three decades later, she is now the current holder of the RACGP’s GP of the Year award, an honour she shared with Dr Abhishek Verma in Victoria – and she told newsGP how pleased she is that she took that initial, daunting step.
 
‘I was just like everyone else – with just a small suitcase but full of dreams,’ she said.
 
‘To this day, I’m so grateful that Australia became my destiny.’
 
The early years in South Australia were spent working towards Fellowship, and Dr Aggarwal recalls the challenges of balancing clinical studies, practice and exams with family responsibilities.
 
‘Between work, the kids’ school and other activities life was just a rollercoaster,’ she said.
 
‘But then you keep following your passion for your medicine, and it’s the love and respect of people around you which kept giving me the energy and motivation and perseverance to continue on the journey.’
 
She went on to work in North Sydney and is now a familiar figure as a GP in Penrith and Bankstown to the west of the city.
 
Her work, however, goes way beyond the clinical, with Dr Aggarwal throwing herself into health promotion for ethnic and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities – a contribution acknowledged in her award.
 
Attending community talks forums, conducting free health checks, promoting cancer awareness among CALD communities: for Dr Aggarwal, it is just another strand to what she can offer.
 
‘With your work as a general practitioner, you feel that you are making such a meaningful contribution to people’s lives, your patients, and community,’ she said.
 
‘Public health promotion is a very important part of the work in my practice.’
 
With COVID-19 exposing many of the fault-lines in healthcare access, Dr Aggarwal is also very aware of the pressures on her profession, but also of its power for good.
 
‘There have been unprecedented times and all the healthcare professionals [have] kept working beyond their capacity, despite all the hardships,’ she said.
 
‘It’s not easy for GPs – even now, sometimes in the day I feel that if I can fit just one extra patient in my routine, I’ll save that patient going to hospital.’
 
That drive comes from an unshakeable belief in the role of general practice care and what it can contribute to preventive health and managing patients with chronic conditions.
 
‘It is the general practitioner who puts it all together for them, and it’s the comprehensive and continuous care that is so important,’ she said.
 
‘The health profession is all teamwork, no one can work on their own.
 
‘I work in a really supportive team, from reception, nursing staff, allied healthcare, pharmacists, other specialists, we all work together.
 
‘With teamwork, prioritising and planning, it’s really amazing what one can do.’
 
Dr Anju Aggarwal’s work as a GP has made her a familiar figure in Penrith and Bankstown.

As well as being an enthusiastic clinician and educator, Dr Aggarwal is a staunch believer in being involved in shaping the direction of the profession she loves.
 
‘I value my advocacy role, and I enjoy learning from others and bringing my perspective into those diverse healthcare groups,’ she said.
 
‘Being a GP advisor, or in clinical governance, you need to be part of the cohort where decisions about your profession are made, where decisions about healthcare are made … for the benefit of health professionals and for the country.’
 
Acknowledging the challenge of wearing many different hats, Dr Aggarwal is passionate in her belief that care begins at home.
 
‘It is really important for us medical professionals … to see that self-care is not selfish,’ she said.  
 
‘You need to look after yourself. That is the first thing to be able to look after others and your loved ones, look after yourself.
 
‘I practise what I preach.’
 
Classical Indian dancing is one outlet for her, along with a regular Saturday morning ‘walk and talk’ she takes with other doctors – a ritual that is usually followed by a further debrief over coffee.
 
‘We go for one hour,’ she said. ‘Our walk is very brisk and we talk – after that you feel so light.’
 
With a son who is now doing his medical studies, Dr Aggarwal hopes that she can help encourage young people into the profession – and despite the recent pandemic challenges, she says she would not hesitate to recommend general practice.
 
‘If you enjoy variety go into general practice,’ she said. ‘It can give you so [many] things, it is full of opportunities.’
 
She is also upbeat about the specialty’s future, describing herself as ‘very optimistic’ about what is to come if the right steps are taken to fund primary care adequately – a view she says is influenced by her discussions with overseas medical professionals.
 
‘General practice is the base of the triangle, the stronger it is, the better it will be for any country without a doubt,’ Dr Aggarwal said.
 
‘Primary care in Australia is very good as compared to some other bases and we just need to strengthen it further.
 
‘Australia’s primary care needs to lead the world, and I’m sure we can do that.
 
‘Because I am part of global associations with multiple countries, I can see that Australia is so advanced and respected.’
 
The GP of the Year award has also given her extra momentum to keep doing her work, she says – and she hopes that as an international medical graduate and woman, she can serve as a spur to others coming through.
 
‘If I can do it, anyone can,’ she said.
 
If Dr Aggarwal has any regrets, she certainly shows no sign.
 
‘My younger son asked me, “mum, if you got the Lotto what would you do?” she said.
 
‘I told him, “Look, I’d do exactly what I do, whether I win the lotto or not.”’
 
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