Who am I now?
I’m a specialist general practitioner. That’s a doctor who’s completed specialist training and specialist examinations, and has qualified as a Fellow with one of the specialist GP Colleges in Australia.
I am particularly interested in advocating for and supporting children, adolescents and adults with ADHD, Autism and other neurodivergent conditions. I support people questioning a diagnosis, through the diagnostic process, and help with living all aspects of life well after diagnosis.
As one of the leading ADHD GPs in Brisbane, I‘m a full member of the Australasian ADHD Professionals Association (AADPA), the Australian Adult ADHD Interest Group (AADHDIG), and the RACGP Mental Health & ADHD/ASD/neurodiversity special interest groups. I have undertaken advanced mental health skills training through my membership of the Australian Society for Psychological Medicine and I am an accredited provider of focussed psychological therapies.
Of course, I also provide an extensive range of general primary care services.
The back story
I graduated with my medical degree from the University of Newcastle in 2000. Then I started out on a hospital career that spanned over a decade, starting out in rural New South Wales as a resident for a couple of years. I was selected for the surgical training program, and after doing the necessary critical care, anaesthetics, and general surgical rotations, I relocated to Brisbane to pursue a career in orthopaedic surgery. I spent 5 years as an orthopaedic registrar across several hospitals in South East Queensland and gained extensive experience in orthopaedic and trauma surgery. There was a lot of on-call work and time away from home, and with a young family, it became difficult to keep doing this work.
Pursuing my interests and hoping for a better work-life balance, I was accepted into pathology training with plans to subspecialty in forensic pathology. I loved forensic pathology; it was fascinating work, though very challenging. I felt the need to keep my clinical skills up during the four years of forensic and anatomical pathology by moonlighting in private intensive care, coronary care, obstetric and general surgical assisting, palliative care, rehabilitation medicine, pain medicine, and Emergency medicine.
As it turned out, I hadn’t found my forever home in pathology, and I eventually went back to working full time in emergency. During that time, I managed to get a taste of General Practice doing a 3-month stint. I was hooked. I loved it! I loved the variety and challenge of the work, and I loved the connections with people and the community. I felt quite at home amidst all the clinical uncertainty we see and manage daily, and thrived on the complexity of it. So I commenced formal training (a few more years) to get my fellowship as a Specialist GP.
Since specialising, I have developed more skills and experience in treating complex and chronic medical conditions, women’s health, family planning services and counselling, men’s health, and LGBTIQ+ supportive and affirming care, and undertaking advanced mental health skills training to provide mental health services. My interest in Autism, ADHD and neurodivergent supportive care arose from both personal lived experience and my affinity for communicating with and working with neurodivergent people. I have a genuine desire to support people on their journey of diagnosis and beyond, and I have a passion for providing a whole-person, collaborative style of care to everybody, and that naturally lends itself well to neurodivergent supportive health care.