Associate Professor Annie Bye, Neurology Consultant, Sydney's Children's Hospital
Dr Annie Bye is a Senior Staff Specialist at the Sydney Children's Hospital and an Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales. She has worked in conjunction with the Australian Association of Neurologists and the dedicated neurology consultant team at the Hospital to develop the Allens Arthur Robinson Neurology Fellowship.
Annie has worked closely with each of the Fellows since the program was initiated in 1999. The Fellowship is a highly structured training program in general paediatric neurology with additional training in epilepsy and neuromuscular diseases, as well as research commitments and undergraduate lecturing. 'It is tough and they work very, very hard,' Annie explains. 'They start at 8am and they work a 12-hour day. In alternate weeks, they are also on call for Emergency 24 hours a day. It is an intensely challenging experience.'
Annie estimates that the Neurology Fellow consults between 15 and 20 patients each week. This means that in the nine years since the establishment of the Fellowship, the Allens Arthur Robinson Neurology Fellows have helped an estimated 5000 patients.
According to Annie, the major problem facing the field of paediatric neurology is lack of funding. While there are government-funded training programs in adult neurology, the Allens Arthur Robinson Neurology Fellowship is the only one of its kind in Australia and New Zealand. The relatively young age of the sub-specialty, combined with the lack of governmental support, has led to critical staff shortages. Annie travels to Brisbane twice each year to conduct a specialised epilepsy clinic because of staff shortages in this particular area in Queensland. To meet the current needs, and while young consultants train to fill positions in Queensland, Sydney Children's Hospital runs this Brisbane outreach service, bringing children to Sydney who require epilepsy surgery.
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