DECADES of work caring for the dying has earned Dr Eric Fairbank a spot on the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.
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Dr Fairbank, who was made a member in the general division of the Order of Australia (AM), was part of the team that established Warrnambool’s first palliative care unit and has served as its director since 1986.
“It’s quite a surprise to say the least,” he said of the honour. “It’s a little embarrassing. There’s quite a few people who are equally worthy or more so than I.”
Due to retire in a month, Dr Fairbank has been an integral part of the Warrnambool Base Hospital’s palliative care unit from the start.
“I trained as a GP and in the mid ’80s I developed interest in palliative care via the writings and books of Swiss-American psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross,” Dr Fairbank said, describing Dr Kubler-Ross as “a pioneer in the field and one of the first doctors who really spoke about death and dying”.
By the year 2000, palliative care had become a speciality field to which Dr Fairbank chose to dedicate himself.
He previously worked as a GP at Warrnambool’s Cambourne Clinic and in Papua New Guinea. “You learn dying is a part of life and you really come to terms with it yourself,” he said of his time in palliative care.
mneal@fairfaxmedia.com.au
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