{"id":1294,"date":"2019-07-11T11:59:52","date_gmt":"2019-07-11T01:59:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thejugular.org\/?p=1294"},"modified":"2026-02-06T00:19:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T00:19:23","slug":"mental-health-through-the-monocle-of-professor-ute-vollmer-conna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jugular.org.au\/index.php\/2019\/07\/11\/mental-health-through-the-monocle-of-professor-ute-vollmer-conna\/","title":{"rendered":"Mental Health through the Monocle of Professor Ute Vollmer-Conna"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>10 Minute, 18 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n

by\nJULIANNA WAN and LUANA SAWMYNADEN<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Known fondly by UNSW medical\nstudents as Student Wellbeing Advisor, Professor Ute Vollmer-Conna opens up\nabout her life before being the distinctive character we all love and cherish,\nattracting humans and animals alike and how to better care not only for\nourselves, but also for one another.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Run us through your role as a\nStudent Wellbeing advisor.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nrole of the Student Wellbeing Advisor was established to provide support and\nassistance to students in all 6 years of the medical course who experience\ndifficulties of a personal, psychological, psychiatric or medical nature. To\ngive confidential assessment and advice, coordinate appropriate help, and act\nas an advocate for students in their interaction with the Faculty as needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nwas originally meant to be only 4 hours per week of clinical work since my\nprimary role is academic, that\u2019s chiefly research and teaching. But, as you can\nimagine, 4 hours barely scratched the surface…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nhave been here at UNSW Medicine since the 90\u2019s, when there were no specific\nadvisors. Naturally, students were already having issues. I was running a\nteaching department in the old second-year curriculum and well, the students\nknew me and quite liked me, since I am a bit of a character after all! I have\nhad this sofa forever and students would come in and camp out in my room,\nasking me about whatever was on their minds. You could say I have always been\ndoing wellbeing advising. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\nwas also an anatomist before, Liz Tancred, and she was similar: very personable\nand the students just loved her! She would run the first years and I was the\n\u201csecond-year person\u201d. Whenever some in particular worried her though, she would\nsend them my way since I have clinical training and know more about\npsychological and psychiatric issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nthis was then not a concrete role and it was only when Professor Jones asked me\nin 2012 that I officially started taking care of our entire Medical student\ncohort . Before, other people were employed from the outside, including a GP\nfor one morning per week. These people usually had a narrow window for\nappointments and students also had their busy timetable to tend to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\nwas some concern about whether students would come to see me in this peculiar\nrole while still being part of the Medical faculty –  they may feel it compromising to come given\nthe stigma still surrounding mental health issues in Medicine. There is likely\nto be a small proportion of students who probably still feel that way and are\ngenerally worried about the whole stigma of admitting to not being well.\nHowever, what set me apart from the start was that, unlike those outside people\nwhom students barely knew, I was a familiar face! They attended my lectures and\ncould watch me from afar to gauge what kind of person I was, without having to\nidentify themselves. They would often come down to meet me and open up,\nsometimes even be encouraged by their friends who I had already been seeing. I\nknow the course really well, I know at what stage students are struggling and\nhow to help. Everyone in the Faculty also knows me and works with me to do\nwhatever is possible when I ask for something on behalf of the student, without\nneeding to break the student\u2019s confidentiality about what the health problem is\n(e.g. special consideration for extra time or extra leave). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway,\nI see a lot of students! A big portion of my day is really just dedicated to\nthem: I make myself available in the afternoons, though it can sometimes drag\non till 7 o\u2019clock at night, if needed (especially during 5th and 6th year exam\ntime). Sometimes I see as many as 20 a week, with some ringing me up from the\ncountryside if they are really stuck or some keeping in contact even as\ninterns..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\njust have to make something clear though: I do not provide therapy. I see them,\nassess them and make sure they get the care they need. So, if someone is really\nunwell or suicidal, I get them to hospital, accident emergency or get the\ncrisis team here. If someone has been abused, we often have the security and\nthe police here in my room with the victim and I will be alongside them, talking\nand making decisions together. There are so many things that I do that are not\nprescribed as something I have to do: I just do what I think is necessary to\nhelp the student at the time.. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How much time can you\ndedicate to each one of your students?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nthink it is really important to listen so I usually take an hour per student.\nEveryone seems to think we can solve mental health problems by having more apps\nthese days. I am a non-believer in this. All the ones I have seen who are\nreally hurting don\u2019t want to do anything online. They just want someone\nempathetic who listens to their problems and who is there for them, really. I\nusually accompany students through their journey of learning what the problem\nis to a later point, where I can be certain they are well-cared for: they are\nwith someone they like, regularly receiving therapy, and they\u2019re improving.\nThen, I let them go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until\nI know that for sure, I don\u2019t just see them, listen to their story, tell them\nwhat to do and say: \u201cOh, what you need to do is to get a mental health care\nplan, find a psychologist…see you later!\u201d. I say: \u201cWhy don\u2019t you come back in\n2 weeks\u2019 time and let me know whether you have managed to find a good GP?\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are there people who never\ncome back to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes,\nof course. If I am unable to help or if they just wished to run something past\nme and get my opinion on it rather than it being an ongoing situation, they\noften don\u2019t come back. However, they tend to return the year after, when\nsomething else is happening. I think most people who have seen me once are\nquite happy to come back!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When is the right time to\nseek help? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\nyou are feeling bad and there is a reason for it, let\u2019s say the boyfriend\nupsets you, a family member is sick, you fail an exam, then it is fairly normal\nto be upset. There are situations where feeling down is just a healthy response\nto something bad happening rather than depression. But if over time, you feel\ngradually worse about yourself and your feelings have no real reason and that\nwhatever you try (e.g. talk to friends, exercise) does not help, that\u2019s when\nyou need to seek help. If it\u2019s ongoing and scares you and you\u2019re thinking\nyou\u2019re not being yourself. We all have a sense of how we are in the world and\nif you suddenly think \u201cMy god, this is not like me at all. What\u2019s happening?\u201d\nand\/or you\u2019re having feelings of such gravity that they stop you going about\nyour normal day, or where you want to hurt yourself then you need to seek help\nstraight away!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nis also where YOU as colleagues can come into it! There are people wandering\naround with clear mental problems and no one says a word about it. It would\nactually be helpful to say: \u201cLook I\u2019ve been watching you and you seem really\nout of sorts, would you like to talk or is there anything I can do?\u201d, to someone\nwho seems isolated or down. Sometimes people come up to me worried about their\nfriends and then give me their emails but I can\u2019t contact these students\nbecause  of privacy concerns. As you\nknow, it is professionally not appropriate to contact people against their\nwill. You need to convince him\/her to contact me\u2026.or at least let them know\nthat you and others are here to help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why might some people not\nwant to seek help?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stigma\u2019s\na big one. For some guys in your age group it can\nbe very difficult to come to terms with \u2018who you\nreally are\u2019 and not to lie to yourself about it.; especially if that is not\nwhat is expected by the family or culturally My brother is a very wise man and\nhe says the biggest mistake you can do is to lie to yourself. If you cannot be\nhonest with yourself or you pretend something is not happening when it is, then\nyou\u2019re in trouble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In med school, you are fairly protected to work through your problems; this whole faculty is incredibly supportive. This gives you an opportunity to sort out and face your issues. When you actually work through all your stuff and manage to get over it (which most of us do), that learning experience is priceless. Knowing by your own example what it\u2019s like to be in a really bad state, how you fought and struggled through to overcome your difficulties and get to a better place – that journey is worth a lot to a doctor in terms of wisdom that cannot otherwise be gained. Because that\u2019s something you can\u2019t teach you have to live it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\nyou never had a bad thing happen to you, in many ways, that\u2019s good, but you\ncan\u2019t say with conviction that you know exactly what others are going through..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tell us more about your life\nbefore UNSW.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nwas born in Germany but I\u2019ve been here for more than 40 years. When I came\nhere, it was an opportunity to start again. At the time, there was this scheme\nafter the Whitlam government where you could study, no matter who you were,\nafter passing some entry exams and so I studied. I ended up doing a doctorate\nin Medicine and getting an academic position in Psychiatry so I was extremely lucky\u2026.and\nvery grateful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nI had no one here who paid for everything so I had to waitress at night to live\nand then study like crazy, while struggling with my own demons in between. It\nwas hard but I look back so many times now and I think I can\u2019t believe how\nlucky I am. My life now is just so incredibly rich: I have fabulous friends, I\nlive in Maroubra (which has got to be the best place on Earth), I\u2019m healthy and\n happy. When I go swimming in the morning\nand look at the ocean, I just can\u2019t believe I\u2019m actually here. But it goes to\nshow: if you actually want to do something, you can. You have to just…\nstruggle along and fight for it! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\nyou wanna know a bit more about me, there is a this UNSWtv clip called On The\nCouch where I was interviewed and I talk about my early life\u2026.. being a\ncarpenter and a shepherd!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Link:\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=KisFo7b2Lko<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is that your cat? (proceed to\npointing to Ute\u2019s computer screen)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve\nalways had two cats, the current ones are Fritz and B\u00e4rli. I\u2019ve had the most\nendearing animals arrive in various states of dishevelment at my house. I call\nthem gifts from God and now, I\u2019m imploring God to not send more gifts just as\nyet because when I finally get to retire, I really want to travel around\nAustralia for a bit! We have a little retro caravan, and it will be a real\ntrick to train the cats to come along in the caravan! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So it\u2019s just not the humans\nthat come to you, it\u2019s all the animals?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haha,\njust my magnetic effect! I would love to have a possum! The only animals I\u2019ve\never had were ones that just arrived at my house. So I\u2019m hoping for a possum\u2026\nI\u2019d be totally delighted if I could!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you or any of your\npeers in UNSW Medicine are concerned for your mental health, please do not\nhesitate to contact Professor Ute: https:\/\/med.unsw.edu.au\/student-wellbeing-advisor<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n

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by JULIANNA WAN and LUANA SAWMYNADEN Known fondly by UNSW medical students as Student Wellbeing Advisor, Professor Ute Vollmer-Conna opens up about her life before being the distinctive character we all love and cherish, attracting humans and animals alike and how to better care not only for ourselves, but also<\/p>\n

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