Lindy Hunter (nee Clarke) (1974)
I went into college in my final year of medicine (1974), thanks to a Queen’s scholarship. I’d been living in my family home in Ringwood and spent hours travelling every day. Shifting close to the Royal Melbourne Hospital where I trained allowed me to fit in extra tutorials and patient contact time, which would not otherwise have been possible. I also really appreciated the Queen’s tutorials. I admired my obs and gynae tutor, Mr Graeme McLeish, so much that he later delivered my babies.
And then of course I met a certain mathematics tutor in Queen’s to whom I became engaged. Richard Hunter (1974) and I married at the end of that year and were extremely fortunate to be able to shift into the married tutors’ flat on the ground floor of J-Wing. We lived there for three years, during which time I was the live-in on-call medico for the College (when I wasn’t in the wards or in the lab doing experiments for my PhD). I remember making several visits to Jack Clarke’s kids during that time, as well as dealing with injured sportsmen and the occasional student who had over-indulged to the point of unconsciousness, among others.
When I was studying medicine, women comprised about 25-30% of the student cohort, whereas now, they outnumber the men. I didn’t face any overt sexual discrimination during my professional career in pathology, but I know it did exist in some other specialties. I think that decisions regarding work-life balance are still a major issue for women, including child-rearing and family pressures.
I retired 10 years ago after nearly 45 fantastic years in medicine, specialising in anatomical pathology. I now enjoy time with my five grandchildren; I’m actively involved in Probus; I belong to three book clubs; I volunteer as a learning club tutor for the Smith Family; and I play cello in the Brisbane Symphony Orchestra. As many retirees say, I don’t know how I ever found time to go to work. My husband and I have also been able to travel more both in Australia and overseas, where we have indulged in adventure motorcycling. We’ve ridden around Iceland, the Dalmatian Coast, Russia, the Baltic Coast and Morocco, and have also visited numbers of other countries by more usual transport.