Virginia Cunsolo is the U3APP Health & Safety Officer. Virginia was a Registered Nurse for 30 years. Having completed Business Management studies she became the Training and Assessment Manager at the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and subsequently Project and Process Management at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in Spring Street, Melbourne.
Virginia joined U3APP in 2023, together with her husband Tony Cunsolo.
Which classes did you select to join? Initially Philosophy. My father had recently passed away. He loved philosophy, so I wanted to find out more about it. Tony’s family is Italian, they speak a particular Sicilian dialect, so we thought we would learn Italian in a more formal way. We currently attend Chris Wroe’s Italian Intermediate class.
Where did you spend your childhood years? I was born in Mooroopna, Victoria. I am the youngest of 5 siblings. I spent my childhood years in Glen Waverley, attending Glen Waverley Primary School, then on to Glen Waverley High School and later attended Korowa CEGGS.
My father was an accountant; my mother was a nurse. My father, prior to my birth, held the Australian Bantam-weight title for Greco-Roman wrestling during the 1950’s.
So, in a way, he was a “health fanatic” in every facet of his life including his diet. We were always involved in a variety of sports. I did gymnastics for about 10 years, I played tennis, netball and participated in athletic carnivals, we also loved to swim.
My dad used to make a joke that he would go for a run, and I would run around and do cartwheels and then run back to him. He used to train at the Flinders Street Railway Station gym (above the station).
Was your mother also interested in fitness and sport? No, (laughing) they were “like chalk and cheese”. My mother was not interested in fitness pursuits, they were “polar opposites” in respect to their health regimes, which in a way, complemented each other. My mother would bake scones, served with jam and cream, and make cakes. There was always a delicious dessert for us to eat.
Did you participate in other activities? I learnt to play the classical guitar, the clarinet. My dad and sister played the mandolin with the Melbourne Mandolin Orchestra.
In terms of my career. Like many teenagers, I was busy building relationships with friends and doing a lot of other activities and didn’t have a true vision in terms of careers. My mum was a nurse and so I followed in her footsteps and decided to develop a career in nursing. I was 18 years old when I met my husband, and 19 years when we married.
As your mother was a nurse, would you have been familiar with the joys and challenges of this rather demanding career? Yes, I loved it. Although my career subsequently has taken a different direction, I loved looking after people. It was rewarding, nurses in those days would get positive feedback from patients.
How did your career develop overtime? I worked as a Registered Nurse for 30 years. At Footscray Hospital and also in general practice as a practice nurse.
I left nursing and obtained an administrative position at the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine. My main area of work was working with the Board of Education and fellowship exam committees. Arranging meetings and coordinating both the written and practical Fellowship exams
I would format the written exam papers developed by the exam committees and distribute them throughout Australia and New Zealand. I would also coordinate the venues, accommodation and exam timetables for the practical exam and would travel around Australia and New Zealand with the examiners to hold the practical exams in hospital out-patients departments. The practical exams used “real” patients and also actors who would stand in as patients to simulate realistic scenarios. There would also be various written scenario questions at these exams.
However, it eventuated that I had breast cancer, so I took a year off and focused on my health before returning to work in project management.
I compiled and wrote various online learning modules, specifically, for Internationally trained physicians. These modules introduced them to the requirements and expectations in respect to working in Australia, in emergency departments.
The modules were designed to assist them to “find their way” and to fit in with the Australian way of life, so to speak. For instance, basic steps on how to register as a doctor in Australia, writing prescriptions and how our hospital system functions.
Also acquainting them with our various colloquialisms. Such as “bring a plate” what does that mean? I also wrote mentoring modules for junior doctors and junior specialists.
What is the focus of the College for Emergency Medicine? When a doctor finishes their medical degree, they then decide what type of medicine they want to take up. Maybe a general practitioner, a surgeon, or another specific field of medicine. However, there is also a specialty for emergency medicine specialists.
When you are treated at an emergency department, the doctor who attends to you is an emergency medicine specialist. Car accidents, heart attacks, anything that is a first point of call in the hospital.
I am interested to know what factors may attract doctors and others to work in such an acutely stressful and demanding position?
I am not sure. I guess there is an adrenaline rush or a need to help others. Patients may be scared when they find themselves unexpectedly in hospital. Emergency doctors attend to bad accidents, severe trauma. They are able to assist these patients, make them feel safe and possibly save their life.
I have a very special respect for the doctors I have worked with. This includes medical specialists from around Australia and New Zealand. I developed a really close working relationship with some amazing doctors, due to their calm, easy going manner.
From your childhood onwards, you have continued to take an avid interest in various sporting activities.
Well, for a number of years whilst raising my 2 young children and working 40 hours a week I did not have much spare time. However, after they left home, I recall that when Tony and I went for a walk around Albert Park, we looked at the rowers on the lake. Rowing had always intrigued me, it seemed like a “sort of fun thing to do”.
I got hold of a brochure and then rang my 3 sisters and said, “how about we learn to row and do something together as a group?” So, we did. The 4 of us joined the Y Rowing Club at Albert Park. Although my sisters are no longer in the club, I have now been rowing for 18 years.
What is it that attracts you to rowing? Well, it is so peaceful, and the water is very calming. As a recreational sport, rowing is very relaxing. I continue to row at 7am, twice a week, with other women of various ages, including women much older than me.
Are there other activities you are involved with at the rowing club? Yes, I am the membership secretary. It is a very small women’s only club. We enjoy social activities together, “I row for coffee!” We will go out for a row, and then back to the club for a coffee or a wine, depending on the time of day.
However, I have extended my interest in rowing and participate in competitive regattas including – Head of the Yarra, where 8 people row together in one boat. I have also participated in raising money for the Royal Flying Doctor Service at Wentworth, near Mildura. I love that particular regatta. I rowed 90 kms in one day, to celebrate 90 years of this valuable service!
“However, I have extended my interest in rowing and participate in competitive regattas including – Head of the Yarra, where 8 people row together in one boat. I have also participated in raising money for the Royal Flying Doctor Service at Wentworth, near Mildura. I love that particular regatta. I rowed 90 kms in one day, to celebrate 90 years of this valuable service!”I have also participated in the Oxfam Walk which entails walking 100 kms in 36 hours. Also, the Pier to Pub swim in Lorne and the Melbourne half marathon.
What does ‘wellness’ mean for you, I am referring to this very popular word at the moment? Well, for me it denotes just feeling content, happy, feeling good about yourself. For instance, after doing exercise, my blood is pumping, it is invigorating.
Even when I had breast cancer I would walk every single day, even if it was only to the letterbox and back. I think that movement is good for you, it does not matter how you do this. I don’t think that we should follow ‘wellness’, blindly. I think we should do it because it makes us feel “alive”. It is for our own personal sense of achievement, whatever that might be.
Also, there is the social aspect and the benefit of belonging to exercise groups as in the various groups at U3APP.
You are a member, also Newsletter Editor, of the Port Melbourne Dig In Community Garden. How did that come about? We live in an apartment, so it is nice to have a garden plot where we can grow various vegetables. It is good to be able to “get our hands dirty”.
The Dig In Garden also has chickens, for instance today I am on “chook duty”. Tony and I will clean out their pen and collect the eggs. Whoever is on chook duty gets to take the eggs home.
I am the editor of the Dig In Newsletter. This is a 3 monthly Newsletter. There is a link in the newsletter to the Dig In Garden’s history which I collated. The Newsletter highlights various welcomes, farewells, and news about members. Also a chook and bee-keeper’s report. I always have a recipe corner, members send in their recipes, or I might put one in.
Your role as Health & Safety Officer at U3APP? I have only recently commenced this role. This will involve filling in incident reports, notifying the committee of any necessary adjustments re building safety, checking equipment, such as the defibrillator, making sure that all is in order.
Any future travel plans? Next year we plan to travel to Italy and catch up with some of Tony’s relatives. They don’t speak English, so we are improving our Italian by attending Chris Wroe’s Italian class, to enable us to communicate with them.
Family involvement? We have 2 sons and 4 grandchildren, My eldest son and his family live locally. My youngest son and his wife and daughter live in Beaumaris. My daughter in-law Heather, was the mayor of Port Phillip. She continues to attend council meetings, so we do quite a lot of babysitting.
Other interests? During COVID I started painting while I was working at home. Instead of children giving their grandparents their paintings, (laughing) I gave them my paintings!
My grandson loves the solar system, so I painted a picture of the solar system for him. I find I do like painting and will do more in my free time, “as I age into the future”.
So, in summation, from childhood you have enjoyed physical activities, notably, also for the pleasurable and social aspects. Yes, my active lifestyle motivates me to do other things. It is pleasurable, “energy builds energy.” It can strengthen your muscles and perhaps also enable you to do things that you might once have thought that you could never do.
Virginia Cunsolo was interviewed by Felicity May.
