Professor Barbara Bain has made an extraordinary contribution to haematology and to the British Society for Haematology (BSH) over a career spanning more than five decades. After many years of teaching, writing and advancing the practice of haematology, Barbara is now retiring and returning to Australia, where she began her medical career.
In 2017, Barbara was recognised with the BSH Lifetime Achievement Award. She is the author of more than 20 books, many of which have been translated into other languages, and has made a significant contribution to the British Journal of Haematology (BJHaem), particularly through her educational work and her support for the next generation of haematologists.
Barbara has also played an important role in documenting the history of BJHaem. In 2020, she was commissioned to write a retrospective history of the journal, Historical review: a history of the British Journal of Haematology, providing a fascinating account of the publication and its development over the decades.
Her contribution to BSH has extended across guidelines, education and professional development. She has contributed to the development of BSH guidelines published in BJHaem and has brought her considerable expertise as an educator and author to educational content for trainees.
As Barbara prepared for her return to Australia, we asked her to reflect on her career in haematology, the changes she has witnessed over the past five decades, her contribution to BSH and BJHaem, and what she is looking forward to in this next chapter.
Looking back on your five decades in haematology, what are you most proud of leaving behind as your legacy to the profession?
I am most proud of my books as they are very detailed and informative; for decades they have been found useful and important for training. However their usefulness is steadily declining as generations that have followed me are more likely to use online resources.
How has the field of haematology changed since you began your career, and what do you think has been the most significant transformation?
There have been enormous changes. When I started practising haematology as a registrar in the 1960s haematologists generally practised both laboratory and clinical haematology and treated the whole range of haematological conditions. With the incredible expansion of knowledge and the major advances in treatment that have occurred this has become quite impossible. This is a loss for the haematologist as there was satisfaction in assessing the patient clinically, initiating appropriate investigations and then getting on with treatment. There is also some loss to the patient as continuity of care is less possible.
After spending more than 40 years in the UK, how does it feel to be returning to Australia, and what are you most looking forward to about this next chapter of your life?
This is rather daunting and I shall miss my many haematological friends. However I am looking forward to living in an apartment with views and sounds of the Pacific Ocean. I might even see a whale passing.
Although you're retiring from clinical practice, do you see yourself remaining involved in haematology through writing, teaching, mentoring or other activities in the future?
Apart from some editing, I am giving up haematology entirely as it is impossible to keep up with the continuing expansion of knowledge and I want to stop before my memory gets any worse. I am hoping to maintain some expertise in Italian and to write a book on the bubonic plague, the latter dealing with both its medical and cultural aspects. I plan also to support my husband in working on our website on St Sebastian, a useful saint to invoke against the bubonic plague and still invoked in Italy during COVID-19. Our website has details of over 10,000 works of art and I was recently pleased and surprised to discover that this year it has been referred to by at least 8000 people from more than 25 countries.
You have contributed enormously to haematology education through your teaching, publications and BSH initiatives. What achievement within the Society are you most proud of?
There are many aspects of the BSH that are of great importance - meetings, guidelines and other aid in continuing professional development.