“It all started with surgery”
I was born in New Zealand and attended the University of Otago in Dunedin for preclinical training, then went on to Christchurch clinical school for my clinical years. My initial interest was surgery and I did a year of surgical training before starting Obstetrics and Gynaecology training at the Christchurch Woman’s hospital. I took a few years break from training before returning to complete it, but this time at the Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne Australia where I was living at the time. In the intervening five years my work took me to Thursday Island (Australia), Gladstone (as a GP) and then onto Broken Hill in the Australian outback as a Flying doctor with the RFDS for two years, gaining the General Practice fellowship enroute (FRACGP) where I was called on to cover the O & G consultant on many occasions at the base hospital. Before returning to specialist O & G training in Melbourne I spent a year working in Asia with AEA (Asian Emergency Assistance).
Following four years of specialist training at Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne, I had the chance to enter the subspecialty of REI (Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility) and I took a position as the fellow at the HARI (Human Assisted Reproduction Ireland) in Dublin at the IVF unit of Professor Robert Harrison, who was then the president of IFFS (International Federation of Fertility Societies). That allowed me to move on to a fellow position at the prestigious Hammersmith IVF unit of Lord Professor Robert Winston in London. From there I was very fortunate to achieve the fellow position at GENEA (then Sydney IVF) under one of Australia’s leading sub specialists Professor Robert Jansen.
In 2003 I obtained my Master’s in Bioethics at Monash University and after two years with GENEA I moved to Wollongong and commenced my own practice.
While at GENEA I was instrumental in setting up the Miscarriage Investigation Program (MIP) division at the Sydney and Liverpool IVF sites.
In 2003, I instigated the first REI trainee annual seminar. All training sub specialists in Australasia attended and this is now an annual event. We have our own website and chat room. The meetings promote professional and social relationships between future sub specialists.
I am a senior lecturer at the University of Wollongong (UOW) Post Graduation Medical School. I have a keen interest in teaching and enjoy assisting with the training of the medical students.
