Travel letter from Melbourne — Oslo Diabetes Research Center

I am a GP and first year PhD student in Anne Karen Jenum’s group at The Department of General Practice, University of Oslo. A couple of months into my PhD I travelled to Melbourne with my family for a 10-month visit at The Department of General Practice, University of Melbourne.

My project is an epidemiological study of early-onset type 2 diabetes, using the 2014 ROSA4 dataset. My three papers will focus on (i) clinical factors and treatment in general practice, (ii) socioeconomic factors, with data from Statistics Norway, and (iii) multimorbidity, with data from The Norwegian Prescription Database. I have primarily worked on the data I have from Norway, as well taking part in department seminars and visiting local GP practices.

Associate Professor and GP Jo-Anne Manski Nankervis is my host, and two of her PhD-students have been my closest collaborators here. Jason Chiang has just completed his PhD on type 2 diabetes and multimorbidity, while Rita McMorrow is a GP and first year PhD student working on implementation of integrated electronic medical record software for early identification and treatment of type 2 diabetes in general practice.

I had some rewarding months at the department from October to March. The stay has also offered some dramatic surprises, first during the devastating bushfire season in December and January (we were at a safe distance, but the air was some days thick with smoke in the center of Melbourne), and now the national and international lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. The University is closed and my colleagues here have been largely caught up in their clinical roles. With the academic world moving on to digital platforms, I have been more closely connected to the department in Oslo than here in Melbourne over the last couple of months. In a few weeks we head back to Oslo, flights permitting. I hope the autumn brings opportunities to meet diabetes research colleagues again face to face.

Katrina Tibballs

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