Junior Doctor Conference - sneak peek
By Committee of Doctors in Training Deputy Co-Chair and Junior Doctor Conference Program Coordinator Dr Natasha Abeysekera
At a standard higher than ever before, doctors in training have a demand to not only be clinically excellent but also excel academically and within research. The Junior Doctor Conference, Gold Coast has been designed by a doctor in training for all doctors in training (med student all the way to registrars). Rest assured this conference is NOT one you’ll want to miss and is sure to leave you feeling engaged, empowered and energised in medicine once more.
Featuring a stellar research program, JDC is the perfect way to not only share your expertise and research but also score those elusive CV points. This year, JDC will also feature the inaugural Best Poster and Best Oral research awards.
Here is a little sneak peek about our line-up.
A/Prof Rhea Liang
A/Prof Rhea Liang is Surgical co-Lead at Bond University and a Consultant General and Breast surgeon at Robina Hospital. She holds three fellowships (Royal Australasian College of Surgeons FRACS, American College of Surgeon RACS, and Faculty of Surgical Trainers RCSEdinburgh FFSTEd). She is the immediate past Chair of the RACS Operating With Respect Education committee and a member of the GCHHS Clinical Council. A/Prof Liang is a current PhD candidate, researching intersectionality in the development of the professional surgical identity.
Her two main research focuses are breast cancer management, and diversity and inclusion in medicine. Her Masters examined reasons why women leave surgical training and was published in the Lancet. The research confirmed factors identified in earlier reports as reasons women leave surgical training, and contributed six new factors: unavailability of leave, a distinction between valid and "invalid" reasons for leave, poor mental health, absence of interactions with other women in surgery, fear of repercussion, and lack of pathways for independent and specific support.
Dr Tiarna Ernst
Dr Ernst graduated with First Class Honours from James Cook University in 2011 prior to commencing her Masters in Reproductive Medicine at the University of NSW, which she graduated in 2019 with excellence. She completed her Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (RANZCOG) Fellowship at Monash Health, Victoria and the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Queensland. This training has provided her with rich experience and confidence in all areas of obstetrics and gynaecology, particularly advanced laparoscopic surgery.
Dr Ernst was proudly one of the trailblazing female athletes drafted in the inaugural AFL Women’s competition. She played every game through four seasons of the AFLW competition and was a Premiership winning player in 2018 with the Western Bulldogs. She is renowned for successfully managing the balance between her medical profession and elite sporting requirements. While remaining passionate about medicine, Dr Ernst has also been actively involved in conferences and presentations around female empowerment such as overcoming systemic barriers to gender inequality and navigating the challenges facing professional females within their workplace and sporting arena.
Dr Daryl Hewson
Dr Daryl Hewson is a specialist physician in Internal Medicine with special interests in stroke, hypertension and multisystem disease. He has also studied epidemiology and uses the principles of evidence based medicine to guide his practice. Through his position as a “Tier One” Visiting Medical Officer at Greenslopes Private Hospital, Dr Hewson continues to be an enthusiastic teacher of medical students, interns, medical house officers, and medical registrars.
Dr Hewson has been Chairman of the GPH Ethics Committee, Vice President of the Alumni Association University of Queensland, an examiner for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and the AMC, and is currently Chairman of the Brisbane Clinic.
Dr Daryl Hewson is a specialist physician, art collector and strong supporter of Queensland artists. Through his active patronage he has helped build a robust photographic art community in Brisbane. His collection is considered the most comprehensive archive of photographic art in Queensland.
Dr Mellissa Naidoo
Mellissa is a medical executive with over 15 years of experience in clinical and medical leadership roles across both the public and private sector. She holds a Masters in Health Management, and fellowships with the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators and Australasian College of Health Service Management. With a strong interest in medical leadership, standards of care and innovation, Dr Naidoo is passionate about healthcare improvement and person-centred care.
A firm believer in the benefits of inclusion and diversity in leadership and decision-making, Dr Naidoo is the recipient of a Joint government/Australian institute of Company Directors Board Scholarship and has recently undertaken the prestigious Harvard Executive Women in Health Care program in Boston. She is a not-for-profit board director and serves on the Queensland Medical Women’s Society as the Australian Federation of Medical Women Representative. An advocate for diversity and inclusion, she is the founder of Women & Medicine and actively involved in mentoring and training the next generation of medical leaders through her college and university roles.
Dr Dinesh Palipana
Dinesh Palipana was the first quadriplegic medical intern in Queensland, and the second person to graduate medical school with quadriplegia in Australia. Dinesh Palipana earned a Bachelor of Laws (LLB), prior to completing his Doctor of Medicine (MD) at the Griffith University. He has completed an Advanced Clerkship in Radiology at Harvard University. Halfway through medical school, he was involved in a catastrophic motor vehicle accident that caused a cervical spinal cord injury.
As a result of his injury and experiences, Dinesh Palipana has been an advocate for inclusivity in medicine and the workplace generally. He is a founding member of Doctors with Disabilities Australia.
Dinesh Palipana is currently a resident medical officer at the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service. He is a lecturer at the Griffith University and adjunct research fellow at the Menzies Health Institute of Queensland. He has research interests in spinal cord injury, particularly with novel rehabilitation techniques.
Dinesh Palipana is the Gold Coast University Hospital's representative in the Australian Medical Association Queensland's Council of Doctors in Training. He is a member of the scientific advisory committee of the Perry Cross Spinal Research Foundation, and the Ambassador Council at the Hopkins Centre. Dinesh was the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service's Junior Doctor of the Year for 2018. He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2019.
Dr Lily Vrtik
Dr Vrtik (nee Chen) graduated from the School of Medicine, University of Western Australia and began her earlier years of surgical training in Perth. Lily spent 12 months at the world-renowned Chang-Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan, studying Microsurgery, Burns and Trauma Reconstructive Surgery. She completed her final 2 years of training here in Brisbane. Lily enjoys her work immensely and has special interests in both cosmetic and reconstructive breast surgery, microsurgical reconstruction, as well as lower limb trauma surgery. She enjoys non-surgical facial rejuvenation procedures and pays detailed attention to her results.
In more recent years, Dr Vrtik has been heavily involved in academic pursuits in areas of Bioethics and Health Law, and has a Masters in Health Law from The University of Sydney. Lily is also a specialist reservist in the Royal Australian Air Force providing regular clinical services for our defence personnel. Dr Vrtik also enjoys teaching and is a clinical tutor for UQ medical school; she is regularly involved in resident suturing workshops and lecture programs as well as surgical registrar training programs. Lily is also a registered instructor for the ANZBA's EMSB Courses (Early Management of Severe Burns).
As a student, Lily was a volunteer with Mission Australia; then as a young doctor, she worked as a volunteer doctor for various sporting and racing events for over 5 continuous years. In 2002 and 2003, she travelled with the Nordhoff Foundation Team to Cambodia, as part of the cleft lip and palate surgery team working to help local children. Dr Vrtik is also currently on the executive committee for Queensland Medical Orchestra.
Register today or risk a serious case of FOMO, that even Vitamin P can’t fix!
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