What are you passions outside of medicine?

Well, Toowoomba is a very big cycling city and my wife and I do lots of cycling. My wife and I would cycle five days a week, perhaps even more. On the weekends we like to do long rides, greater than 80kms. We also like to go to the beach. Living in Toowoomba, the big thing is that there is no water and I need to get rejuvenated at the beach. We have a place on the beach front and it is beautiful just listening to and walking along the beach. Plus we’re big coffee shop people!

What are your favourite places?

I like France and we spent a month there recently. We do French [language] twice a week. We are going to go back for a month soon with Dr John Morris. But I really like going to America; especially to Vale. That’s my favourite spot and we are off to there in February to ski. I’m not a very good skier. Mind you, last time I skied I had a broken arm following a fall from a bike a week before we left. I just had to go. So, when I was skiing downhill I could only turn one way because I only had one pole.

What do you think has been your greatest achievement?

I guess I would have to say my family. In fact, my son is engaged and guess who is to be the best man? I’ve never heard of the father being the best man before. So I think that is a big honour, therefore, I think that that would have to be the thing that is most important. So, I like to think I’m a good father.

What do you enjoy about doing medicolegal reports?

The best things about it is to get a bit of an idea about how other people deal with patients and it’s part of trying to improve my own practice and my own way of dealing with people. When you don’t do this sort of work, you are busy and you haven’t got time to listen and you make up your mind within a minute. Whereas, you have to listen to these people; they’re different and you have to spend more time. We are only seeing a bit of their life, the fact that they have a sore back; but really there are tonnes of other things going on and you can see that.

So, why did you choose Orthopaedics?

Orthopaedics is a personality thing and I’ve got the personality. I think that’s obvious to everyone after a while and the more orthopods you run across, the more you will see that that’s the case. I did Neurosurgery for a while but the boys just pressure you and finally you have no choice; you just do it. It’s a great honour to be tapped on the shoulder and so you just sort of mooch into that.

If you could have any other career, what would you choose?

I like IT. I have a Masters in IT and that wasn’t available when I was younger. So, if IT was available I probably would have done that.

We'd like to introduce you to one of our LexiMed medical consultants, Dr John Morris, who kindly obliged us with a bit of his valuable time and offered some wonderful insights into his life.  We value John's dedication to delivering expert opinion services to our clients as well as his candour in this interview.

Dr Morris, how do you enjoy spending your leisure time?

My home is at Noosa, so when I'm there, I'm very fortunate to be able to indulge in some of my favourite pastimes.

I think it's important to keep fit so I try to go for long walks in the National Park each day, up to eight kilometres . And I'm a regular at the Wednesday twilight sailing at Manly.

I'm also really interested in food and wine. Sourcing good food to cook can take up a big part of the day since there are three fish shops in Noosa. I go to all of them and buy different seafood from each – oysters from one, mussels from another and I get fresh fish from the third.

I enjoy cooking but unfortunately I don't get much of a look in because my wife, who's an operating theatre nurse, is a real 'terror' in the kitchen.

I also enjoy wide aspects of wine, often leaning toward a good Burgundy. I have an interest in Summit Estate Winery in the Granite Belt and I even get involved in picking the grapes and obviously tasting the finished product! This year's Harvest Dinner was a raging success. The Granite Belt is really producing some exceptional vintages.

Perhaps my greatest passion is classical music, particularly opera and during the year I go to about twelve performances of high definition opera from The Metropolitan Opera Company in New York – these show at selected cinemas in Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast.

And each year I try to go to two or three live performances in New York – we've already got two events booked a couple of months ahead, plus another one at Covent Garden in London.

You obviously travel a lot – what are your favourite places?

I'd probably pick Europe, especially France because I love the countryside and of course the great food and wine experiences there.

My son is in marketing at GE in New York and we visit him every year.

My daughter and her family live in Sydney so we're often popping down there for a visit with the grandchildren.

My wife, Heidi, has always wanted to visit the Taj Mahal and she's having a 'special' birthday this year so we've decided to go to India. No, I don't think I'd be very popular at home if I told you which birthday it is.

What do you think is your greatest achievement so far?

It's difficult to pick just one thing. I'd have to say it's probably balancing a really busy practice with family and lifestyle.

Once I made the decision to retire from operating, then that was a big weight lifted from my shoulders and it allowed me so much more time for all the other things I love doing.

When I first became a granddad that was pretty big too!

What do you enjoy about doing medicolegal reports?

I enjoy the challenge, because it taps into all my professional experience yet I have to stay totally objective and make sure I give an unbiased report that is balanced between the client, say the insurance company, and the worker.

The person being assessed is often already under some stress  and possibly feels resistant to any additional interrogation, so it's important that they are treated with respect.

Often you can see why some people return to work and others don't, because you observe whether they are motivated or not.

I'm always aware that the report is part of a process to ensure a fair resolution.

What factors led you to choose a career in Orthopaedics?

I probably didn't realise it back then but I was as always destined to do something with my head and hands.

It was somewhat a matter of elimination. I thought I wanted to be an engineer but I didn't think I was good enough at applied maths. Then I thought of architecture but I wasn't great at drawing. So being an orthopaedic surgeon combined a bit of both from each discipline – sort of the architecture and engineering of the body.

I have an identical twin brother who's an an ophthalmologist in New Zealand. Maybe there was a bit of healthy sibling rivalry when we both went through medicine at university together.

I guess a defining moment for me was when I did my first ward round with a physician and I knew I didn't want to spend my days talking to patients from the foot of their bed – I needed to be hands on – so I went on to be an orthopopaedic surgeon, and I've never looked back.

I'm still really interested in architecture though.

Terminology and Tests

Aggravation
An aggravation is a circumstance or event that permanently worsens a pre-existing or underlying condition.

Exacerbation
This is a re-occurrence or flare up generally implying worsening of a condition temporarily.  It will subsequently return to the baseline. Exacerbation does not equal aggravation.

Atrophy
A wasting or decrease in size or physiological activity of a part of the body. This can be because of disease or other influences. A skeletal muscle may undergo atrophy as a result of lack of physical exercise or neurological/musculoskeletal disease.

Degeneration
The gradual deterioration of normal cells and body functions resulting in loss of function.

Impairment

A loss, loss of use or derangement of any body part, organ system or organ function. Whole person impairment: Percentages that estimate the impact of the impairment on the individual’s overall ability to perform activities of daily living, excluding work.

Disability
An alteration of an individual’s capacity to meet personal, social or occupational demands because of impairment. 

X-Ray
A non invasive medical test that helps physicians diagnose and treat medical conditions. Imaging with x-rays involves exposing a part of the body to a small dose of ionising radiation to produce pictures of the inside of the body.

Computer Tomography (CT)
A Computer Tomography Scan is an x-ray examination that uses a special machine, which looks like a dougnut, with a flat table passing through the middle.  The patient lies on the table and slowly passes through the opening. It produces a cross section of the part of the body being examined. Each section gives an excellent image of the organ.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Magnetic Resonance Imaging is a test for soft tissues including bone, fat, muscles and organs. A series of images are taken through sections of your body in any direction. A Magnetic Resonance Image is different to an x-ray or Computer Tomography Scan because it produces images of soft tissue like nerve endings, muscles, ligaments and cartilage.

Nuclear Medicine
This studies organ function and identifies the presence of disease. It uses small amounts of radioactive substances known as tracers. These are designed to target and image a specific area of the body.

Ultrasound
This test can be performed on most parts of the body. They provide in depth information about many conditions from pregnancy, gall stones and even muscle tears. An Ultrasound works by bouncing sound waves off parts of the body, like a sonar, to give an image.

Are you confused about a medical term or test that isn’t on this list? Let us know and we’ll add it to the list.

A Name
A brand can be a very valuable commodity. But coming up with a name can be a challenge, especially when it’s a new business in a very specialist field. A name should be strong, memorable, easy to pronounce and importantly…relevant. Directors Debbie McCosker and David Morgan debated this issue during the lead up to LexiMed’s doors opening. Debbie and David even consulted a third party marketing expert from Bond University to help narrow down the shortlist. After four months of research and serious deliberation, LexiMed was born.  

The Logo
Having decided on a name, LexiMed now needed an identity. A brand reflective of the ethos Debbie and David built the company on. The four large circles of the graphic image represent the diversity of market segments and disciplines along with the breadth of qualified services. The smaller central circle represents the heart, axis and pivotal point of your medicolegal requirements.

Learn more about us.

From the moment Debbie said, ‘Let’s go for it,’ LexiMed started to make the transition from an idea to a business plan.

Market research discovered that some businesses were generally unhappy with their medicolegal reports. Specific needs remained unaddressed, as did an understanding of timelines when it came to issuing reliable, fair reports.

The discovery led to David and Debbie establishing the missions and visions of LexiMed. To deliver a ‘defining opinion’ and strive to accommodate all needs of specific clients.

It’s exciting to work in a business that encourages making the extra effort to accommodate clients, employees and patients. It is satisfying being able to problem solve and adapt the service to suit all those involved.

Selecting highly regarded specialists who are genuinely passionate about medicolegal work has been another big step in the process.

A high standard of patient care has been another key factor in differentiating LexiMed from the competition.

Going through the process of a medicolegal consultation can be a daunting process for patients. Taking the time to have a friendly chat and make them a cup of coffee to help relax before the specialist appointment.

As LexiMed continues to grow, Debbie McCosker, Business Director, wants to keep the business as personalised as possible.

Read more about what we do.

A new resources page has been collated by our consultants to provide you with some of the latest reports, research and information.

A regularly updated news page is dedicated to delivering the latest news from the medicolegal industry, our specialists and clients. We will feature articles on terminology, tests and conditions.

Each month we will also add new articles of interest including:

• medical journals
• research
• features on new LexiMed specialists
• upcoming events and seminars

We have a substantial medical specialist section listing each of the Medical Specialty Areas we cover and the professionals available for consultation.

You can find out appointment availability throughout the state with our listings that are updated weekly.

Read more about our Services.

Contact us for more information or call 07 3831 5681.