Lisa Pryor & Amy Coopes, hosted by Norman Swan

Presented as part of Antidote 2022
Live-broadcast from The Playhouse, Sydney Opera House
Sunday, 11 September
Auslan and Live Captioned

These high-achievers sacrificed successful careers in journalism to take up the rigorous study necessary to become medical doctors. What drives such a sacrifice, and how does it feel to be called to serve?

Lisa Pryor was a lawyer and a columnist until one night in an emergency ward she decided to enter medicine. Now, she is a psychiatry registrar. Amy Coopes was a journalist dispatched to prison cells, natural disaster aftermaths, and to meet victims of violent crimes. After spending so long speaking to the human face of tragedy, she left the newsroom to pursue medicine. They speak to Norman Swan, who famously switched from medicine to journalism, about what compelled them to abandon successful careers in order to embark on the arduous years of training to become doctors.

In light of the pandemic's revelations of the essential nature of healthcare workers, this will be a compelling conversation about individual versus social ambitions, the nature of this ultra-demanding profession, and the gifts of service.