After more than two decades providing specialist eye care to communities across the Great Southern and Goldfields-Esperance regions, ophthalmologist Dr David Offerman will hang up his loupes at the end of this year.
Dr Offerman first became drawn to ophthalmology in the early years of his medical training.
“I graduated from medical school in 1983 and spent four years rotating through various specialist areas at Fremantle Hospital,” he said.
“Ophthalmology appealed to me, and I was lucky enough to get onto the training program. It felt like the right fit, precise, hands-on, and with tangible outcomes for patients.”
In 2001, Dr Offerman moved to Albany to take up a permanent specialist role, and it was here that the foundations of his outreach work began.
“When I started in Albany, my predecessor suggested continuing outreach clinics to Katanning, so I began visiting in 2002,” he said.
“Then in 2006, the chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee in Esperance contacted me when their previous ophthalmologist retired. That’s how the visiting service to Esperance started.”
For more than 20 years, he made the long drives from Albany to Esperance to ensure patients could access sight-saving treatment close to home; what kept him on the road was the connection to his patients.
“It’s the sense of community,” he said.
“In the waiting rooms, everyone knew each other even if they hadn’t seen one another for decades. Esperance, being that bit further away, had an especially strong community.”
In turn, his community gave back.
“Over the years, the Esperance community fundraised over $100,000 to purchase two ophthalmic lasers for the clinic which is pretty amazing,” he said.
“One day my car broke down between Ravensthorpe and Jerramungup, while both local mechanics were away fighting fires in Esperance.
“Fortunately, one of my patients – a Jerramungup farmer – took my call while on his header during harvest.
“He got my car details, went to his workshop, and turned up half an hour later to fix it. Farmers really can fix anything.
“In Katanning, the motel owners’ daughter worked at the hospital. She always knew my clinic dates, so I never had to book a room and in Albany, many of my elderly patients had grandchildren the same age as mine. It all weaved into a feeling of being part of the community.”
Technology has changed drastically over Dr Offerman’s career.
“In cataract surgery, the transition from extracapsular extraction to phacoemulsification in the 1990s was transformative. It meant patients recovered faster and outcomes became more predictable,” he said.
“And the introduction of intravitreal anti-VEGF treatments for macular degeneration in the past 15 years has been life-changing for many patients, although it’s certainly increased the workload.”
Throughout his journey, Dr Offerman said he was grateful for the ongoing support of Rural Health West.
“Rural Health West supported all my outreach trips, which I was very grateful for,” he said.
“It allowed me to bulk bill patients for my outreach clinics, so that has made a real difference for people over two decades.”
But the long hours and lengthy drives for outreach trips also came with their challenges.
“Driver fatigue became a real issue, and spending decades hunched over delicate eye instruments took a toll on my neck,” he said.
His solution came from the coastline.
“Swimming, particularly bilateral breathing, helped to fix it,” he said.
“It eventually led to open water swimming, and I’ve ended up doing the Albany Harbour Swim and the Busselton Jetty Swim so that was a good by-product.”
In retirement, he is looking forward to spending more time on the golf course and with his family.
“When I look back over the past 42 years, I honestly can’t believe how lucky I’ve been to have had such a satisfying career, but I am looking forward to hitting the course.
“I won the Wittenoom Cup last year Albany’s premier amateur golf championship.
“The day after I retire, I’ll probably cease to be relevant in a medical sense but in a hundred years, my great-grandkids can walk into the Albany Golf Club, see the cup on display, and know that in 2024, I won it.”