Dr Bob Ayres’ special message to Year 12s as ATAR scores are published

Recently retired cardiologist Dr Bob Ayres was, in his own words, ‘not a model student’. But failing Year 12 twice didn’t stop him from becoming an esteemed doctor. Here’s his advice to Year 12s as their ATAR results are published.

SCHOOL isn’t for everyone.

Looking back at recently retired St Vincent’s Private Hospital cardiologist Dr Bob Ayres’ career, and his many achievements, you wouldn’t think he fell into that category.

But he managed to, in his words, “distinguish himself” by failing Year 12 at Churchie twice.

“I was not a model student,” he said, dryly.

While at school he played sport, dreamt of the bush and life at home in Toobeah, west of Goondiwindi, and was “lazy and unmotivated”.

His message to Year 12s this morning, especially those who don’t receive the marks they wanted, is simple:

“Never give up. There’s so much pressure on (students) now, but there’s always time to do things, to get your head right, and to mature,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t succeed first up. Just don’t give up, and persevere.

“There will be plenty of opportunity to succeed later on.”

Dr Ayres hung up his stethoscope for the final time earlier this month, retiring after 27 years in practice.

Bob and Sue Ayres.

St Vincent’s chief medical officer Dr Rob Gray said Dr Ayres’ contribution to specialist medicine on the Darling Downs over many decades was “beyond peer”.

Dr Ayres has lost count of the number of patients he’s helped over the years but knows it’s more than 15,000.

But it was anything but a straightforward journey.

After failing Year 12 twice, he worked for five years, including a three-month stint in an underground mine, before repeating Year 12 and going to university to become a vet, and then going on to study medicine.

After working in Papua New Guinea and the USA, Dr Ayres and his wife Sue settled in Toowoomba in 1993 where he was the first and only cardiologist west of Brisbane.

A lack of a local Cardiac Cath Lab meant both he and his patients had to travel to the Wesley and Greenslopes hospitals to do coronary angiograms for nine years.

This resulted in a close and ongoing working relationship with Brisbane cardiologists and cardiac surgeons.

Dr Bob Ayres with his final patient David Haeusler

He helped set up both Cardiac Cath labs in Toowoomba, allowing patients to have coronary angiograms performed locally.

Dr Gray said Dr Ayres had been an innovator, an educator, a mentor, “and a doctor to your patients in the most complementary sense of the word”.

Dr Ayres and Mrs Ayres plan on travelling around Queensland and the rest of Australia, later next year.