A Boomer's Ride

D.J. Coster describes his life journey against the background of profound socioeconomic change in Australia in the 80 years since the end of WWII.

Coster is a perceptive observer of what has gone on around him and acknowledges the impact of national and international events on his life - and everyone else's.

He describes the transitions that have tested him - from a working-class home into elite educational institutions, from medical student to junior doctor and the metamorphosis into a clinician scientist, and the tricky transition from doctor to patient.

The story is told honestly and reflectively by someone not afraid to provoke. It is not a story of personal achievement against the odds, but a description of factors that made the baby boomer generation more privileged than any other generation before or since, and the way national and global events, chance encounters, and luck, shape lives.

D.J. Coster AO, DSc, FTSE, is a retired ophthalmologist with a distinguished career in academic medicine. He lives in Adelaide with his wife Marion.