sound connections

Bendigo Health plastic surgeon and musician Alex Cameron reveals his two passions have more in common than would first seem.

Photograph by Kate Monotti

What are the parallels between plastic surgeons and rock guitarists? After many years of pondering the question, Bendigo Health plastic surgeon Alex Cameron concludes it’s a very intense form of connection with people that fuses his two worlds. And like many Australians, connection with the land.

As a songwriter and guitarist in Adelaide rock band Bad // Dreems, he has released three studio albums since 2011 and toured with the likes of Midnight Oil around the country and the UK.

A two-week tour through the Northern Territory and communities in Arnhem Land in 2022 has been a recent highlight.

“I was working in Darwin Hospital, as I do occasionally, in part due to the flexibility Bendigo Health allows,” says Alex. “We toured with Black Rock Band from Jabiru and played at the annual Gurindji Freedom Day Festival, which celebrates the legendary Wave Hill Walk-Off by Gurindji stockmen in the 1960s, kicking off a movement for land rights.”

Bad // Dreems’ recent release Jack is a song about truth-telling and storytelling. “It deals with the ‘great Australian silence’ surrounding the true history of Australia pre- and post-colonisation. Not enough of these stories are told. Understanding someone’s story is the first step to being able to provide support or assistance, which is an ethos that I think is integral to medicine also.”

Working in all aspects of plastic surgery, Alex has a special interest in hand surgery, including complex hand trauma, melanoma and skin cancer and breast reconstruction.

He originally moved to Bendigo from Adelaide to work alongside Bendigo-raised plastic surgeon Broughton Snell, who founded the Bendigo Health Plastic Surgery service, as well as Sandhurst Plastic Surgery & Dermatology.

“I originally intended to only stay for one year, but I found that the hospital, the patients and the work-life balance were a great fit. Bendigo Health is a fantastic team, across doctors, nurses and allied health. I grew up as a child of a country GP, and I think that imbued me with an affinity for rural people – their stoicism, good humour and the challenges they face accessing healthcare.”

Pictured under giant gumtrees and surrounded by granite boulders, Alex is confident he made the right choice.

“Despite the expansion of Bendigo Health, there is a strong community spirit that is refreshingly free of some of the conflict or division I’ve observed in large public hospitals,” he says.

Rather than distract or detract from his profession, Alex believes his musical career complements his surgical practice.

“Surgery and music are two very different beasts. Over the years, I have pondered why I am drawn intensely to such incongruous disciplines. The answer is that both involve privileged and powerful connections with people. It is a privilege to have people entrust you with their care. It is also a privilege to have people show interest in art that you have created. I find the connection engendered through these connections very fulfilling and inspiring.”