PROFESSOR Steven Doherty has been appointed as the new head of the School of Rural Medicine at the University of New England.
Professor Doherty has extensive experience in rural medicine and rural medical education, previously holding positions at the University of Newcastle Rural Clinical School and Department of Rural Health.
He was chairman of the National Institute for Clinical Studies Fellowship Review Committee and chairman of the National Health and Medical Research Council’s Pain Management Initiative.
Professor Doherty also has 20 years of experience working in rural hospitals across NSW, most recently at Tamworth Hospital as well as the Dubbo Base Hospital and Armidale Hospital.
He said he was excited and privileged to take on the role of head of the School of Rural Medicine, which has recently produced its second cohort of graduates from the Joint Medical Program.
“As an emergency medicine specialist I see the opportunity for increased student placements in emergency departments which by their nature provide opportunities for training 24 hours a day.
“Online and electronic sources for health education are likely to play an increasingly important in the future of training for junior doctors.
“That opportunity needs to be carefully balanced with appropriate and sufficient access to clinicians who take an interest in teaching and mentoring the next generations of doctors.
“The ‘practice’ of medicine can only be learnt at the bedside.”
Professor Doherty holds a Bachelor of Medicine and a Bachelor of Surgery from the University of NSW, and he completed a PhD in 2009.
