\u201cI thought that being in that field and able to help people in that would be something really powerful.\u201d <\/p>\n
With that in mind, working in the medical field had been a no-brainer for Sathiyakumar.<\/p>\n
He said it was a career that was \u201cintellectually stimulating and interesting\u201d, but still allowed him to talk to people.<\/p>\n
Two years ago, as part of his training to become a doctor, he spent some time in radiation oncology and he hadn\u2019t looked back since – although he was working almost 55-hour weeks.<\/p>\n
However, he said it was in a way that was a \u201cdifferent flavour to ED\u201d.<\/p>\n
As part of his job, he talked to patients and conducted thorough consultations, but he was also able to \u201cput some music on\u201d and use his passion for physics, maths and computing. <\/p>\n
Sathiyakumar specialises in using advanced imaging to map tumours and plan for further treatments, and radiotherapy to treat cancer and non-cancerous diseases.<\/p>\n
He said being one of eight New Zealand doctors to participate in the documentary series had been a \u201cfascinating experience\u201d and a \u201cpeek behind the scenes\u201d.<\/p>\n
Doctor Visharn Sathiyakumar enjoys being in a job that still allows him to talk to people. <\/p>\n
He says based on his experience, people who don\u2019t work in the medical field often pictured being a doctor as like what is shown on the popular fictional American medical series Grey\u2019s Anatomy – which wasn\u2019t the reality.<\/p>\n
This is why he believed the I am a Doctor documentary series was \u201cpowerful\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs resident doctors who aren\u2019t specialists yet but in training … there are a lot of hours and time … you literally live at the hospital. It\u2019s [about] being able to show that to people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sathiyakumar said he had a good work balance, but finding time for himself when he was off the tools could be \u201cdifficult\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not until you have a conversation with someone who\u2019s not in medicine … and realise they have the time in life to seek more hobbies.<\/p>\n
Doctor Visharn Sathiyakumar uses advanced imaging to map tumours. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s when you start wondering how much time you put into the work,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
He considered medicine his \u201chobby\u201d, but he did try to escape \u201cfrom the noises of the pinging and beeping of machines\u201d too.<\/p>\n
He enjoys meditating, going for walks, or spending time with his friends and family. <\/p>\n
\u201cI find it\u2019s probably what I need the most when I\u2019m very stressed, especially during exam times, because you\u2019re working these hours, and also having to study.\u201d<\/p>\n
I Am a Doctor was directed by Jens Hertzum and produced by Sarah Kinniburgh with production company Gather Productions.<\/p>\n
It was made with support from the New Zealand Resident Doctors\u2019 Association.<\/p>\n
New Zealand Resident Doctors\u2019 Association president Rosa Tobin Stickings said resident medical officers were \u201ccrucial for the future\u201d of New Zealand\u2019s healthcare.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re actively shaping patient care every day,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cTheir knowledge, expertise, and acts of service can make a huge impact in someone\u2019s life, often at the most difficult moments.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, the series aimed to build greater awareness and understanding of the medical officers\u2019 roles.<\/p>\n
I am a Doctor can be viewed online at iamadoctor.nz.<\/p>\n
Malisha Kumar is a multimedia journalist based in Hamilton. She joined the Waikato Herald in 2023 after working for Radio 1XX in Whakat\u0101ne.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sathiyakumar said his grandfather went through \u201cquite a turbulent journey\u201d before the cancer took his life. \u201cI was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":91401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2840,26557,12889,2534,7061,859,78,3523,111,43,139,69,23421,68604,10710,1963,68602,68603,28522,5436,1361,1524],"class_list":["post-91400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-across","tag-am","tag-aotearoa","tag-cancer","tag-doctor","tag-documentary","tag-in","tag-medical","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-officers","tag-practitioners","tag-resident","tag-series","tag-shortform","tag-spotlights","tag-starring","tag-stars","tag-that","tag-waikato"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}