Westmead doctor Graham Malouf to retire after almost 50 years

From delivering 1500 babies to conducting autopsies, a prominent western Sydney doctor is about to hang up the stethoscope after treating people for 45 years.

Veteran doctor Graham Malouf wanted to be a veterinarian but is happy he followed the wishes of his father and followed him into medicine.

“At that stage of your life, you did what you were told and I had the marks to get into medicine or be a vet and my father said ‘No you have to be a doctor’ and I have not regretted one minute of it.

“I do love animals but I enjoy treating people more.’’

Dr Malouf started his career in the clinic with his father at Macquarie St and would spend much time visiting Parramatta Hospital (now Jeffery House) to deliver babies.

He has looked after some patients for 45 years and treated four generations of some families, starting from the maternity wards.

“It’s the most wonderful thing in the whole wide world,’’ he said.

“Nothing, nothing can equate to the smile on a mother’s face when she holds that baby, especially their first baby.’’

Dr Graham Malouf (centre) with his late father George (left) and his brother Mark Malouf graduating from Sydney University in 1972.

He was the last GP obstetrician to work at a teaching hospital, Westmead, until seven years ago.

Some patients were even delivered by his late father, whom Dr Malouf, 73, credits for teaching him a good bedside manner.

“The university taught me how to practise medicine,’’ he said.

“My father … taught me how to be a doctor and there’s a huge difference.

“You’re applying the principle of medicine to each individual patient, according to their needs, their wants, their emotions, their educational background, their family history; their ethnic background especially.

“Everyone now is practising very good medicine, a lot of them are not very good doctors. The concept of the family doctor is being phased out. It’s very sad.’’

Away from his clinics, Dr Malouf worked in the confronting but enthralling field of forensics for 10 years, carrying out post mortem examinations following suspicious deaths.

Dr Graham Malouf at his Westmead practice, a week shy of retirement. Picture: Monique Harmer

“It made you understand your own humanity, there’s no doubt about that,’’ he said.

“It got you to understand to treasure the value of life and to treat everybody with respect.

“It was fascinating but it does convince you that there is somewhere up there … and I don’t care what you call him, or her, there is a greater being because no matter what people look like on the outside, they all look the same on the inside.’’

Before the public turned to “Dr Google’’ for health advice, Dr Malouf relished sharing his knowledge with his radio audience on 2GB.

“That enabled me to do one of the things that I wanted to do and that was to communicate with people and put common sense about medicine in front of them,’’ he said.

“It’s a privilege enough to talk one-to-one to your patients. It’s an incredible privilege to talk one to 20,000 of your patients and it would have to be very common sense about it.

“I have not done a day’s work in my life, it’s always been a pleasure.’’

Dr Graham Malouf has helped bring 1500 babies into the world. Picture: Monique Harmer

Dr Malouf served for two years as a junior doctor at the Royal North Shore Hospital where he met his wife of 47 years, Lesley, but the former St Patrick’s Primary School and Parramatta Marist student is “Parramatta through and through’’.

The former Parramatta Football Club board director “upset the establishment’’ when he wanted the Eels to consider joining Super League in the mid 1990s, a move he thought would help put Parramatta on the “world map’’.

He will retire on June 30 and plans to spend his retirement as a shooter “reducing the feral pig population of Australia”, working on development projects and spending time with his 12-month-old grandson, Harry.

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