OUR PEOPLE
We met Stephen and Alison at their rooms in
Benowa and the interview ran kind of like
the Spragues run their lives – as a tag team
– a seamless system perfected together over 25 years
of marriage, academic pursuits, career goals and three
beautiful children.
This idea of system and balance is obvious in Alison
and Stephen themselves - an example of opposites
attracting or yin and yang – different but harmonious.
Stephen, a coltish character with a sharp mind and
penchant for a good game of golf and a fast car, puts you
quickly at ease in his presence and leaves you with a sense,
that despite the playfulness of his personality, he is a master
of his craft and takes pride in making a plan and perfecting
it; a trait important in a good Orthopaedic surgeon and one
which no doubt influenced Stephen’s choice in specialty.
“Orthopaedics is where you get to play with all the
best toys. The bones are kind of like a meccano set. You
have to take what you have, envision what you want it
to be, then create and execute a plan to get it there. It’s
good fun,” Stephen said.
Alison on the other hand seems to be a gentler, more
meticulous personality. Someone who thinks deeply,
has an appreciation for symmetry, beauty and detail, is
quietly determined and confident in her abilities.
Traits again reflected in the selection of specialty.
ENT can consist of large scale surgery but can also
be delicate, intricate – even fiddly at times, requiring
patience, determination and confidence that you will
eventually, with persistence, succeed in what you are
trying to achieve.
Unlike Stephen, Alison hates golf but is no stranger to
sport, having competed in gymnastics at a national level
when she was younger. She believes that the best way
to start any day is with some kind of sporting activity –
whether it be a run, swim, walk or class.
“The day is just always better when you start with some
kind of sport,” Alison said.
Neither hailed from the Gold Coast, but it was here,
that a spark ignited between Alison and Stephen over
numerous servings of ice cream – one of the only
luxuries two Uni students could afford when home
for summer break. Medicine was not a family business
for either of them - both were the first in their families
to go into the profession. Stephen was from a shipping
background – his father a merchant ship captain for 30
years and then a Torres Strait marine pilot.
Alison was born in Roma, a small town in Central
Queensland, but her family moved to the Gold Coast
when she was three years old. Her mother was a school
teacher and her father and agricultural scientist who
was involved in building most of the Gold Coast’s
waterways.
For Stephen, after finishing school, it was a choice
between medicine and engineering - with medicine
eventually wining out despite a childhood dream of
becoming an engineer.
For Alison, medicine was a sensible extension on her
interest in science and research, particularly in genetics
- an interest sparked by Alison’s sister who has Down’s
Syndrome. Medicine was however, a far cry from her
childhood dreams of becoming a diplomat (so she could
indulge her love of language) or an astrophysicist/
astronaut.
When asked if they could see themselves doing
anything else, both of them couldn’t really imagine doing
anything besides practising medicine.
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