ANNE WAKATAMA

Chief Medical Officer
Royal Flying Doctor Service
South Eastern Section
Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia
Bachelor of Medicine 1983

2011 JOINT RECIPIENT - ALUMNI AWARD FOR REGIONAL LEADERSHIP

Graduating with Honours as one of the first cohort of students at the Medical School of the University of Newcastle, Anne commenced her career working as an Intern and Resident Medical Officer at the Royal Newcastle Hospital.

After 15 years experience running a private practice as a GP, Anne became the first female Chief Medical Officer with the South Eastern Section of the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

At this time the Section was in a rapid phase of growth, moving from providing primarily acute care to a more comprehensive range of primary health care services.

In her role, Anne recognised a need to contribute to the training of medical and associated students on remote health care as a way to ensure the long-term viability of health services in remote areas.   This led Anne to develop a primary health care vision for remote NSW, and to computerise patient records to undertake research not previously possible with paper based records.