From Queanbeyan Hospital, Doctor John Azoury will be flying to Rio De Janeiro as an official doctor for the Australian Olympic team.
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For 20 years, Dr Azoury has worked at the Crawford Street Medical Clinic and does his best to combine passions for mental health, sports medicine and e-health initiatives.
He is also a GP obstetrician and visiting medical officer (VMO) at Queanbeyan Base Hospital.
Previously, Dr Azoury was involved in the Sydney Olympic Games and thought he would have another go at the Olympics.
“I will be one of six medicos who will be looking after our Olympic team and we will be working in pairs across three main venues that we have to cover,” Dr Azoury said.
He arrived in Rio on July 25 and will have 10 days to settle into his surroundings with the rest of the athletes, before the games kick off on August 25.
Despite his expectations to be at work most of the time, Dr Azoury hopes to have some time to look around the city.
“I understand it’s a pretty city and the beaches are nice, so we’ll see how we go, but mostly it’s going to be for volunteering for working with the team.”
“I’ll have the opportunity to go out on the field and watch some events that our athletes are competing in.
“I don’t think it’s going to be very different to what I’m doing in the office, but in a different environment I think it’s going to be very interesting.”
When asked whether the Zika virus is much concern to the medical staff and athletes, Dr Azoury said it was a “significant concern” but thought it was relatively low risk.
“It’s an area that people have got to be mindful about, but the Brazilian Olympic authorities are asking us to ask any of our athletes who present symptoms of Zika to go get tested in their laboratories.
“We’re certainly very vigilant about that and we’re advising our athletes to use DEET or some sort of mosquito repellant because the mosquito is active all day, not just at night.
“So we’ll see how we go, but I think basically it's all to do with the athletes and their performance.
“The Zika virus I suspect is going to be a low priority for them when they travel,” he said.