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Experience & Philosophy

Dr Mitchell began university studies in Medicine and Surgery in 1980, and has been fascinated ever since. His tutors included the contemporary presidents of the Royal Australian Colleges of Surgery and Medicine. He was present at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney during Australia’s first successful heart transplant by Dr Victor Chang. For twenty years Dr Mitchell assisted in major surgeries, including a number of well known and pioneering surgeries. Dr Mitchell offers as many surgical procedures as can safely be conducted in general practice.

Dr Mitchell estimates that he has conducted approximately 300,000 patient consultations. He has been both a mentor and a lecturer associated with several university medical student programs. He has worked in private practices in Sydney and Adelaide as well as rural and remote practices in Toowoomba and Clifton, Qld. Dr Mitchell is currently enrolled in a naturopathy degree at Endeavour College of Natural Health.  

Dr Mitchell is a firm believer that general practitioners should take primary responsibility for managing their patient’s health. His philosophy is, where possible, to provide comprehensive treatment at the general practice level. Most university medical programs teach that 70% of the diagnosis comes from taking a good medical history of the patient’s symptoms, 20% from examination and 10% from investigations. His philosophy is to use his skill and experience to diagnose his patients whilst relying less upon expensive, invasive or unnecessary diagnostic tests. Dr Mitchell believes that patients need to understand their medical condition, and incorporates education into his consultations.

The recent availability of extended primary care funding through Medicare for persons with chronic medical conditions to access service providers such as dentists, physiotherapists, dietitians, podiatrists and psychologists has allowed Dr Mitchell to co-ordinate an unprecedented level of holistic care for many of his patients. Also, funding through Medicare for preventative health care has provided the opportunity to critically review his management of many elderly patients, as well as those with chronic illnesses, to ensure that all relevant aspects of their health care are optimally managed.