Mini Blog: 2 minutes with... Dr Paul Templar

Mini Blog: 2 minutes with... Dr Paul Templar

03 March 2014

Next up on the '2-minutes-with' couch: Dr Paul Templar 

Paul is an Anaesthetist for the Southern DHB whos bio states that his medical interests include maxillo-facial anaesthesia and disruptive physical behaviour and that he would like to become a ninja!

Catch Paul during concurrent Session 1 on Saturday morning about Challenges in Acute Pain: After 20 Years, Why Are They Still Sore? and A Hard Man's Tale and Fishing & Failure

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1. What is your current role/job/position? 

Consultant Anaesthetist at Dunedin and Mercy hospitals and member of the Dunedin hospital acute pain service (APS).

2. How did you get into working in Pain Management?  

I started as an Anaesthetic registrar just as the APS was being set up and have been involved ever since - it always made sense to continue excellence in analgesia beyond theatre and PACU 

3. If you weren't working in Pain Management what would you be doing?  

If I didn't do the APS I'd just do all the other stuff I do. My alternative to Medicine would have been a farm vet as I grew up on a dairy farm. 

4. If you could invite any 3 people to have dinner, who would you choose and why?

Cain Valasquez UFC heavyweight champion and my most admired sportsman.

Joe Satriani - guitar god - my favourite musician.

Jim Baigin : engineer, pilot, Orthopaedic surgeon, triathlete, captain of the space shuttle on 2 missions, and founder of the Veterans Hospitals critical investigation team - the basis for healthcare incident investigation everywhere. The most accomplished and inspirational speaker I know - he is passionate about patient safety.

And my wife Penelope would have to attend as her charm, beauty, and social skills would relax everyone and ensure a convivial evening.

5. What is the most important advance you hope will be made in Pain in the next ten years?  

I'd really like a strong oral pain reliever that doesn't cause Gastro-intestinal slow down. So we could transition smoothly from an epidural to oral analgesia after big abdominal surgery.