Speaker
Ms Kripa Achan

Creating an App of psychological support resources for doctors in a local health district

Speaker Bio: Kripa is the MDOK Program Manager at Concord Hospital, working with the SLHD MDOK team. She previously worked in medical administration, which sparked a strong interest in medical staff workplace wellbeing. She is passionate about working alongside doctors to develop and implement wellbeing initiatives that support their unique needs and interests. Kripa enjoys gardening and spending time with her friends and family, the latter including a mischievous Labrador named Lucy.

Authors: MS Kripa Achan, Concord Hospital; Clinical Associate Professor Sandhya Limaye, University of Sydney; Dr Sarah Michael, University of New South Wales; Dr Neha Chandrasekar, Royal North Shore Hospital

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Healthcare facilities offer employees access to various psychological support resources, however adequate promotion of these and how best to access them can be challenging and limit their usage. The purpose of the app was to reduce barriers to accessing psychological resources by creating a discreet, portable, and easy way to view and access a curated database of resources available.

Methods: Working with limited financial resources, the project team included four junior doctors who used MS PowerApps, with an existing facility licence to develop the app. The app was launched on R U OK day on 2023, and an updated version was released in 2024. On opening the app, users enter a landing page, which includes a brief video of a psychiatrist promoting help-seeking behaviours. A key feature to assist users to navigate the content included mapping the service for individual users and identifying details of onsite, community-based, and general wellbeing resources.

Results: A digital app detailing a library of psychological support resources is a convenient and opportune strategy to connect doctors with an array of available psychological resources in an accessible, and portable format. Once developed, information can be reviewed and updated on a regular basis.

Conclusions: Utilisation of the app can be assessed in a confidential manner which provides information on how best to further promote to the target population.

Speaker
Dr Emily Amos

Group Coaching for Doctors: A Scalable, Safe, and Transformative Approach to Cultivating Wellbeing and Connection

Speaker Bio: Dr Emily Amos is a GP, mindfulness teacher, lactation consultant, and the founding director of Whole Hearted Medicine. With a background in General Practice and a deep interest in self-compassion, lifestyle medicine, and clinician wellbeing, Emily creates psychologically safe spaces for doctors to reconnect with themselves and each other. Her work blends evidence-based coaching, reflective practice, and lived experience to support sustainable, values-aligned medical practice. Through retreats, education, and advocacy, Emily champions a cultural shift in medicine, towards one that honours emotional insight, peer connection, and the well-being of the healthcare workforce.

Author: Dr Emily Amos

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Doctors across Australia and New Zealand are experiencing rising levels of burnout, distress, and disconnection, often in environments that discourage vulnerability and support-seeking. This presentation explores how group coaching, delivered in an immersive retreat setting, offers a psychologically safe, relationally grounded, and evidence-informed model to support clinician wellbeing and professional fulfilment. By centering self-awareness, peer connection, and meaningful self-care, this model addresses both individual and cultural aspects of sustainable medical practice.

Methods: Participants attended a 4-day educational retreat integrating expert-facilitated group coaching with practices from Internal Family Systems, self-compassion, mindfulness, and lifestyle medicine. Coaching occurred in small, closed peer circles designed to foster emotional safety and reflective insight. Outcomes were measured using the Self-Compassion Scale- Short Form (SCS-SF) and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), collected pre- and post-retreat. Qualitative feedback was gathered via post retreat reflections.

Results: Participants demonstrated a 35% increase in self-compassion and a 27% reduction in perceived stress, with all items across both scales showing statistically significant improvement (p < 0.0001). Written reflections described the experience as “transformative,” “mind-shifting,” and noted a “sense of connection and shared experience.” Common themes included reduced isolation, renewed motivation, and a greater sense of permission to care for oneself.

Conclusions: Group coaching offers doctors a powerful and scalable way to restore wellbeing, cultivate inner leadership, and reconnect with purpose. It represents a meaningful contribution to improving medical culture through deep individual reflection and compassionate professional engagement.

Speaker
Dr Alexandra Batinic

Personalised Medicine – an approach to fostering cohesion between rotating junior doctors and their teams

Speaker Bio: Alexandra is currently a resident in ICU at Concord Hospital. She is passionate about junior doctor wellbeing and has been a doctor in training representative on the MDOK committee for 2 years. She has worked on the personalised medicine initiative since her intern year – this project was selected for presentation at the International Conference on Physician Health in 2024.

Authors: Dr Alexandra Batinic, Resident in ICU; Ms Kripa Achan, MDOK Program manager, Concord Hospital; A/Prof Sandhya Limaye, Director of Well-being, Concord Hospital

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: A sense of belonging and connection to others is a fundamental pillar in Maslow’s hierarchy of well-being needs, reflecting the essential human need to feel seen and valued. At an organisational level, successful relationships, especially within teams are associated with increased efficiency, professional fulfillment, and improved outcomes. High performance teams demonstrate cohesiveness which is facilitated by social ties. In their first two years, junior doctors rotate every 10 weeks, which carries a risk of feeling anonymous and undervalued.

Methods: The Personalised Medicine initiative aims to improve junior doctor integration with their teams by facilitating introductions and highlighting their individuality. We wanted to promote connections and make the frequent transitions between teams easier. An open-ended questionnaire was provided to interns at orientation where they were asked to share something about themselves that would be distributed to their teams with each rotation.

Results: 31/51 interns participated in 2024 and 33/52 in 2025. Responses varied from more detailed responses to the very simple ‘I like dogs’. We have identified soccer players, dancers, coffee enthusiasts, budding chefs and jujitsu athletes in our midst. 20 of 31 interns responded to an evaluation survey. 100% of interns who recalled having a conversation around their information reported the interaction made them feel more welcome.

Conclusions: This simple and low-cost initiative promotes social ties and team cohesion and particularly addresses the vulnerability of the rotating workforce. In a healthcare environment where team-work is critical, this is demonstrated to have significant impact on performance, efficiency and well-being.

Speaker
Dr Jenny Bird

Enhancing Medical Culture through Cross-Disciplinary Debriefing: Implementation of the STOP5 Model in Emergency and Theatre Settings

Speaker Bio: Jenny is a Consultant Anaesthetist at Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide. I have a passion for doctors wellbeing and am an advocate at both a departmental and college level. My particular interest is Critical Incident management and support.

Authors: Dr Alison Robinson; Ms Jenny Bird; Dr Sophia Fisher

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Clinical debriefing enables healthcare teams to reflect on events, process emotional responses, and identify learning to improve performance. In March 2023, the STOP5 model was introduced at a metropolitan tertiary hospital to enhance structured debriefing in Emergency and Theatre departments. This study aimed to evaluate the viability of cross-disciplinary facilitation and its effectiveness in fast-paced, high-pressure environments involving diverse teams.

Methods: Staff completed brief online training and used a cognitive aid to guide debriefs. Data were collected via a QR code-enabled system, capturing post-debrief actions related to communication, equipment, education, systems, and psychological support. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses of debrief content and staff feedback were conducted.

Results: 67 STOP5 debriefs were completed, resulting in 80 action points. The model supported psychological safety and rapid identification of clinical and operational issues, including sentinel (SAC1&2) events. It enabled real-time learning and contributed to ongoing quality improvement. However, there was a clear need for enhanced facilitator education; particularly in co-led debriefing involving psychological first aid and clinical leadership.

Conclusion: The STOP5 model is a feasible, effective tool for improving team learning and wellbeing in high-acuity settings. To sustain its impact, targeted education is recommended to build facilitator confidence and consistency. Embedding debriefing into routine practice strengthens peer support, builds team resilience, and fosters a reflective, learning oriented environment. These outcomes directly contribute to promoting a positive medical culture by empowering people, connecting peers, and supporting improvements in patient and staff safety resulting in high-performing teams.

Speaker
Prof Marie Bismark

“It does feel different when you’re seeing a colleague” – qualitative study of GPs’ experiences of treating doctor-patients

Speaker Bio: Professor Marie Bismark is a psychiatrist, public health physician, health lawyer, and company director. She divides her time between the Kapiti Coast, New Zealand and Melbourne, Australia. In addition to her clinical work, Marie leads a research team at the University of Melbourne, focusing on the interface between patient safety and clinician wellbeing. She serves as a Director of several health sector organisations including the Royal Women’s Hospital and Summerset aged care. Her research has influenced regulatory policy in Australia and internationally. Marie completed a Harkness Fellowship at Harvard has been named as one of the Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence.

Authors: Prof Marie Bismark, University of Melbourne; Dr Dilanka Hettiarachchi, University of Melbourne; Dr Owen Bradfield, Medical Indemnity Protection Society & University of Melbourne

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Improving doctors’ health is a key driver of healthcare quality and safety. Every doctor needs their own general practitioner (GP), but how do GPs feel about treating other doctors? This research explores GPs’ experiences of treating doctor-patients.

Methods: Between July and September 2024, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 22 GPs experienced in treating doctor-patients. Audio recordings were transcribed, de-identified, and analysed for thematic content.

Results: Five themes emerged from participants’ interviews: (1) Barriers to doctor-patients seeking GP care can be practical, professional, and psychological. These barriers can delay care and worse health outcomes. (2) To overcome these barriers, participants adapted to doctor-patients’ needs, and set clear expectations and professional boundaries. (3) Mandatory reporting raised unique challenges. While it can support recovery by ensuring doctors receive much-needed treatment, it also compromise the therapeutic alliance. (4) There is a lack of training for GPs seeking to treat doctor-patients, but resources and supports exist, including doctors health advisory services. (5) Treating GPs found it rewarding and enriching to treat doctor-patients, particularly when they saw longitudinal benefits.

Conclusions: To address the growing challenges of doctors’ health, there is a pressing need for education and training of GPs in how to effectively and sensitively treat doctor-patients and navigate the complexities of the unique nature of the therapeutic relationship, including with respect to mandatory reporting.

Speaker
Dr Owen Bradfield

Analysis of regulatory health impairment decisions against doctors: 2010-2020

Speaker Bio: Dr Owen Bradfield is a medical and legal practitioner and currently the Chief Medical Officer of MIPS. He has 15 years’ experience in medical indemnity insurance, where he has advised and represented doctors in a range of medico-legal disputes, including civil claims, regulatory matters and employment disputes. Owen is also a health law researcher at the University of Melbourne, where his research into the intersection between doctors’ health and legal claims has been awarded a 2020 Fulbright Scholarship, a 2022 Premier’s Award in Health and Medical Research and a 2024 University of Melbourne Dean’s Award for Excellence in the PhD Thesis.

Authors: Dr Owen Bradfield, Medical Indemnity Protection Society & The University of Melbourne; Prof Marie Bismark, The University of Melbourne; Dr Dilanka Hettiararchchi, The University of Melbourne

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Poor doctor health is common and can impair a doctor’s capacity to deliver safe patient care. The regulation of impaired doctors creates tension between the public interest in maintaining standards of safety, and the health workforce interest in supporting doctors to remain in practice in whom many years of education and training have been invested. To understand how courts balance these tensions, we analysed disciplinary cases relating to impaired doctors in Australia and comparable jurisdictions.

Methods: Between 2010 and 2020, there were 89 published decisions from Australia, 21 from New Zealand, 22 from Ontario, nine from the UK, two from Singapore and one from Ireland. Cases were coded according to the nature of the impairment; demographic information; associated conduct allegations; and sanctions imposed.

Results: 1. Compared to overseas jurisdictions, Australian courts and tribunals tended to prioritise deterrence above rehabilitation and rarely entrusted the monitoring and treatment of impaired doctors to physician health programs. 2. Relapses were often treated by Australian courts and tribunals as professional conduct matters requiring sanction, rather than viewed through the lens of the doctor’s recovery. 3. Courts and tribunals are clear that, while an impairment may explain unprofessional conduct (and may be considered in mitigation where treatment leads to insight and remorse), it does not excuse it.

Conclusions: Greater judicial consideration should be placed on an unwell doctor’s rehabilitation and recovery. Supporting impaired doctors’ safe return to practice, when appropriate, is critical to public protection and patient safety.

Speaker
Prof Meagan Brennan

When a colleague has died. Informing the postvention response – a qualitative study

Speaker Bio: Meagan is a GP-trained breast physician, researcher and medical educator. She is a staff specialist at Westmead Hospital in the Westmead Breast Cancer Institute and the Voluntary Assisted Dying service. Meagan’s clinical interests are caring for women at high genetic risk of breast cancer, survivorship care after breast cancer and compassionate end-of-life care. Meagan is a leader in the Inspire program that promotes the art of medicine in Western Sydney. She teaches at The University of Sydney and her research interests include breast cancer survivorship, doctors’ health and experiences of shame in medicine.

Authors: Prof Meagan Brennan, The University of Sydney; Dr Margaret Kay, The University of Queensland; Dr Kathryn Hutt, Doctors’ Health NSW

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Many studies document physician mortality and physician suicide. Few studies have investigated the impact on medical colleagues. Many health organisations remain under-prepared to deliver a postvention response with limited evidence to inform an effective postvention response. This Australian study aims to address this gap by examining physicians’ experience of the sudden loss of a colleague, including through physician suicide.

Methods: This qualitative study asked physician respondents to describe their experience of the sudden loss a medical colleague. After ethics approval and participant consent, an anonymous online survey and qualitative semi-structured interviews (recorded, transcribed and deidentified) recorded responses to multiple open-ended questions. Respondents’ demographic data were collected. Deidentified responses were analysed using an iterative, inductive process and emergent common themes were grouped into categories.

Results: Many of the 31 respondents, experienced this loss early in their career and repeatedly throughout their career. Beyond the initial emotional impact, stepping up to support the workplace and delivery of patient care was a heavy burden. While ongoing trauma was common, physicians initially soldiered on, then reduced their work hours or changed workplaces later. Two key themes (1) Experience of the death of a colleague (personal and workplace response and impact on work) and (2) Postvention support (workplace and external) provided insights into how embedding compassion enables a more effective response.

Conclusions: This study provides evidence for a robust postvention response with strategies designed to compassionately support the workforce, while maintaining safe patient care. This support will embed positive cultural change that values help-seeking.

Speaker
Dr Jennifer Brookes

Easing the trauma of high stakes examinations – learning how to fall

Speaker Bio: Dr Brookes has been a Fellow of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) since 1991 and gained her Master of Health Professional Education in 2016. Her appointments have included ACEM examiner/senior examiner, ACEM exam committee and health service Director of Emergency Medicine Training and Director of Postgraduate Medical Education. She has extensive experience in medical education providing education and support, and remediation after failure for emergency medicine trainees undertaking high stakes examinations, as well as prevocational doctors undertaking interviews for specialty training program selection and employment selection, and international medical graduates.

Author: Dr Jennifer Brookes

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Doctors undertaking high stakes career hurdles including examinations is a ubiquitous occurrence. Despite online discussion forums replete with doctors describing the attrition on their wellbeing during this process, adverse impact may be relatively hidden in the workplace, and there has been little research in this area.

Methods: This reflective opinion piece is based on the author’s thirty-year experience of working with hundreds of doctors preparing for high stakes examinations, including following failure.

Results: Doctors negotiating high stakes examinations report negative impacts on their wellbeing, personal and professional lives. It is critical to consider these consequences in order to minimise harm and allow early prevention and effective management. Wellbeing may particularly suffer following examination failure and both trainees and their supervisors may feel at a loss for how to make progress. A variety of non-educational supports including for mental health, may be invaluable. Suggested starting points for the workplace, supervisors and trainees include demystifying and destigmatising examination failure, providing support during the inevitable falls during study and preparation, and working to support trainees to maintain optimism, confidence and wellbeing.

Conclusions: Even a robust education and training program for high stakes specialty examinations may not be effective without also prioritising trainee wellbeing. Advocacy for and investment in measures to minimise adverse consequences during this process may be critical for individuals to maintain health, facilitate progress, and achieve successful outcomes.

Speakers
Dr Lucy Buchanan and Dr Bianca-Rose Low

Incivility in the Workplace: Investigating the Impact of Rudeness Amongst Hospital Doctors

Speaker Bio: Lucy and Bianca-Rose are two Scottish doctors who trained at the University of Aberdeen and spent their junior doctor years in Glasgow. They moved to Whangarei, the northernmost city in New Zealand in 2023 to escape the Scottish rain and worked there ever since in a mix of medical and O&G jobs. They encountered the Civility Saves Lives Campaign during their time in Glasgow and felt passionate about bringing this movement to NZ.

Authors: Dr Lucy Buchanan, Northland DHB; Dr Bianca-Rose Low, Northland DHB

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Incivility in healthcare has widespread negative impacts. Emerging evidence in this area has highlighted the consequences of workplace incivility amongst medical staff: the ripple effect of colleague rudeness affecting recipients in addition to onlookers, patients, and more concerningly, overall care outcomes. A study was undertaken to identify the extent of incivility within a group of hospital doctors and the effect of this behaviour on staff members.

Methods: An anonymous survey was sent to doctors from multiple specialities in a secondary care hospital. This included tick box and free text questions. It explored lived experiences of incivility in the workplace and the consequential impacts of this.

Results: Over 25% of doctors experienced incivility at least weekly. Almost 60% had experienced this from doctors at an equivalent level of training. Incivility in the workplace resulted in consequences such as poor sleep, decreased confidence, lack of concentration and feeling unable to ask for help. 65% recognised that they had previously been uncivil to others. Factors contributing to this included tiredness (60%), burnout (53%) and understaffing (45%). Whilst 80% felt they had a good understanding of civility in the workplace, only 7% had undergone formal civility training; 65% thought this would be useful.

Conclusions: Incivility is prevalent amongst hospital doctors. Experiences of workplace rudeness has resulted in a variety of negative psychological outcomes. Many recognised they had previously been uncivil for reasons such as tiredness and understaffing. There was a desire for staff training on civility in the workplace.

Speaker
A/Prof Jon Ho Chan

Chief Wellbeing Practitioner-led hospital-network Wellbeing Program: Fostering connection, communication and collaboration with 180-member Wellbeing Committee

Speaker Bio: Jon is a rehabilitation physician at Fiona Stanley Hospital and WA’s first Chief Wellbeing Practitioner, leading the organisational response to optimising staff-wellbeing at Perth’s South Metropolitan Health Service (SMHS). Supported by the SMHS Board/Executive, Jon has forged strong working alliances across SMHS: Doctors’ Support Unit, Clinical Services, WHS/HR/Workforce, JMO/Consultants’ Associations and multidisciplinary SMHS Wellbeing Committee to action the SMHS Wellbeing Framework. Jon is a Clinical Associate Professor, The University of Western Australia Clinical School; member of Australasian Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine (AFRM) Council; Chair of AFRM WA Regional Committee; and leads in CPD and curriculum renewal on AFRM Education Committee.

Authors: A/Prof Jon Ho Chan, South Metropolitian Health Service; Ms Veronique Renel, South Metropolitian Health Service; Miss Samadhi Fernando, South Metropolitian Health Service; Ms Annabel Cooper, South Metropolitian Health Service; Mr Neil Doverty, South Metropolitian Health Service

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Supporting the wellbeing of 15,000 staff, including 1,500 doctors, across a large hospital-network with six impatient sites and various community services is complex. Discipline-specific needs risk being overlooked without a strategic, organisation-wide approach. The Wellbeing Committee (WC) and Wellbeing Program is supported by the Board, Area Executive Group and Steering Committee. The Chief Wellbeing Practitioner (CWP) chairs the WC, promoting collaboration, communication and connection across the network. This governance structure breaks down silos, enhances advocacy and ensures alignment with the strategic Wellbeing Framework (WF).

Methods: The WF addresses four pillars (Healthy: Culture, Minds, Body, Places), via 36-actions. Via the CWP and WC, the WF has informed individual site actions plans aimed at empowering staff to take ownership and collaborate on initiatives addressing these actions.

Results: Since June 2022, the WC (180 members: 18 Working Group, 162 Reference Group members; 104 medical) has delivered a coordinated, organisation-wide strategy. Each site has implemented tailored wellbeing strategies, centrally aligned to avoid duplication and enhance impact. Key achievements include: 1. Implementation of psychological risks/hazards management platform (detailed data on job demands, workplace aggression and staff distress/burnout). 2. Consistent messaging on fundamental organisational wellbeing elements: Rosters, Overtime, Flexibility, Leave, Education (ROFLEd). 3. Wellbeing Initiatives Exchange (WIX): 73 initiatives. 4. Improvement in annual Doctors-in-Training inter-hospital survey results.

Conclusions: Empowering staff, especially doctors, as wellbeing advocates is key to sustaining cultural change. Through strategic leadership and cross-site collaboration, the CWP, WC and WF have created an effective model for advancing staff wellbeing across a complex network.

Speaker
Dr Sarah Dalton

Wholehearted Leadership: A Mindful Model to Improve Wellbeing in People, Teams, and the Workplace

Speaker Bio: Dr Sarah Dalton has a medical background as a Paediatric Emergency Physician, and a long history of medical leadership roles including previous President of the Paediatric and Child Health Division of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. Sarah has worked in various senior clinical and managerial roles over the last 25 years, including several executive leadership roles within NSW Health. Sarah has a Masters of Quality Improvement and extensive experience of leading healthcare improvement initiatives. She is committed to improving the culture of healthcare through working with clinicians who deeply understand how healthcare is delivered and are ideally placed to lead opportunities for change. Sarah has completed a Fulbright Scholarship in Clinical Leadership and is an experienced executive coach and facilitator who primarily works with healthcare leaders.

Authors: Dr Sarah Dalton, Capstan Partners; Dr Emily Amos, Whole Hearted Medicine; Ms Rita Holland, Capstan Partners

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: The wellbeing of doctors is inseparably linked to the culture in which they work. Research consistently shows that the behaviour of a leader is one of the most significant factors influencing team members’ wellbeing. In response, we have developed a wholehearted leadership model to build the capacity of healthcare leaders to care for themselves, support their teams, and positively influence workplace culture. This model integrates principles of mindfulness with leadership and coaching behaviours that promote psychological safety and wellbeing, compassion, and sustainable performance.

Methods: We synthesised evidence from leadership and coaching education science, mindfulness research, and healthcare wellbeing literature to create a practical, teachable framework. The model has been introduced via didactic sessions, interactive workshops, reflective practice, and guided peer discussions between doctors in leadership roles. A mixed-methods evaluation, including pre/post measures and qualitative feedback, was conducted to assess early impact.

Results: Preliminary findings reflect an increased understanding of self-awareness, emotional regulation, and relational leadership capacity among participants. Leaders report greater commitment to improved communication and enhanced psychological safety with a deeper sense of purpose and clarity in supporting their personal and teams’ wellbeing.

Conclusions: Wholehearted leadership offers a pragmatic, evidence-based solution to improving healthcare culture. By equipping leaders to look after themselves and their teams, the model strengthens personal wellbeing, collegial connection, and workplace environments. This approach aligns closely with the ADHC2025 vision—building better People, stronger Peers, and healthier Places in medicine.

Speaker
Mrs Jenny Fuller

Insights on systemic drivers and opportunities to address doctor fatigue: A Statewide analysis

Speaker Bio: Jenny is a certified Human Factors and Ergonomics Professional and Occupational Therapist, with over 25 years of experience. She has extensive strategic and operational experience in healthcare ergonomics, work health and safety, and occupational rehabilitation, as has worked across both government and private industry. She has a particular interest in providing holistic, user-centred interventions that consider the physical and psychological aspects of health and wellbeing, and support people and workplaces to find practical and sustainable solutions to their problems. Jenny is currently the Program Manager for the Medical Officer Fatigue Review, based within the Queensland Department of Health.

Authors: Mrs Jenny Fuller, Queensland Health; Dr Ana M Mantilla Herrera, Queensland Health; Dr Satyan Chari, Nuansys Healthcare

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Fatigue in doctors presents a critical risk to clinician health and wellbeing, and the communities they serve. While often addressed as an individual issue, fatigue risk is shaped by broader systemic factors. This project applied a systems thinking approach to understand multilevel contributors to doctor fatigue risk across a Statewide health system and generate targeted strategies for addressing fatigue risk.

Methods: A systems thinking framework guided the synthesis of findings from a rapid review of peer-reviewed and grey literature, alongside insights from a stakeholder reference group. An Actor Map and AcciMap were created through co-design with the reference group, to document the key contributory risk factors and systemic influences for doctor fatigue.

Results: Participants of varying medical and administrative specialty and seniority brought diverse perspectives and expertise, and were strongly engaged with the analysis. A broad range of interacting factors were identified across all system levels, including contributors from Management, Organisational and Regulatory levels, through to Workplace and Individual contributors. Furthermore, potential leverage points for improved risk mitigation of doctor fatigue were also determined.

Conclusions: The participative, systems thinking approach to mapping contributors to fatigue risk enables a shared understanding of risk and identifies leverage points for targeted interventions. This systemic understanding can foster a more supportive and sustainable culture in medicine to address fatigue risk — one that optimises rest and recovery, recognises risk, and priorities the health and wellbeing of both doctors and the communities they serve, through better designed work systems and practices.

Speaker
Dr Tabitha Healey

Doctors Who Coach Doctors, a community of practice to support our practising community

Speaker Bio: Dr Tabitha Healey is a retired Medical Oncologist who now works as an Executive Health Coach, supporting professionals across Health, Education and Engineering. In 2019, she founded Small moments, Big lives, a coaching practice focused on burnout prevention and evidence-based wellbeing. Drawing on over two decades of clinical experience, Tabitha helps individuals regain control and create sustainable change that ripples through families, organisations and communities. She is also an educator, speaker, clinical hypnotist, and active board member on several health-related organisations. Her work champions the integration of wellbeing into the culture of medicine.

Authors: Dr Tabitha Healey, Founding member – Doctors Who Coach Doctors; Dr Ira van der Steenstraten, Doctors Who Coach Doctors; Dr Anthony Llewellyn, Doctors Who Coach Doctors; Dr Josephine Braid, Doctors Who Coach Doctors

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Evidence demonstrates the value of formal coaching to support doctor health, wellbeing and performance, particularly when delivered by a coach who understands the uniqueness of the medical environment. The “Every Doctor, Every Setting” mental health framework recommends that all doctors have access to coaching and thus it is vital that we have an appropriately trained workforce to deliver this. In 2023 the Doctors Who Coach Doctors network was established to meet the growing demand for peer-led coaching and to elevate the quality and recognition of coaching for doctors.

Methods: Extending invitations through LinkedIn, social media platforms and coaching networks, we sought to connect doctors from Australia and New Zealand who have completed accredited coach training and who formally coach doctors outside of their clinical roles. We looked to gain an understanding of what draws them to a coaching community and what keeps them engaged.

Results: The group has grown to 30 members and facilitates regular online meetings, educational events, peer support and supervision and maintains a public directory of doctor-coaches. Themes driving and maintaining engagement are connection, collaboration, professional development, thought leadership, and elevating awareness, credibility and access to coaching.

Conclusions: The Doctors Who Coach Doctors community supports our coaches to deliver quality, evidence based coaching with the goal of partnering with doctors to prioritise their health and wellbeing whilst enhancing leadership and engagement. This collaboration and promotion of a coaching culture drives safe, sustainable and enriching medical practice, with positive reverberations for clinicians, patients and communities.

Speaker
Dr Emma Hodge

A statewide medical workforce wellbeing survey: Professional fulfilment, burnout and wellbeing drivers in Queensland medical officers

Speaker Bio: Dr Emma Hodge is the Clinical Lead for the Queensland Health Medical Wellbeing Project, Medical Education & Wellbeing Registrar at Bundaberg Hospital and Chair of the AMAQ Committee of Doctors in Training. She is a RACMA candidate undertaking specialist training in medical administration and an Associate Lecturer at the University of Queensland. An accredited careers practitioner, she also holds a Master of Public Health and a Master of Human Nutrition. Emma is a published researcher with a strong passion for improving the training experience, career development and wellbeing of doctors through system level change.

Authors: Dr Emma Hodge, Queensland Health; Alita Cause, Queensland Health; Elizabeth Chenoweth, Queensland Health; Associate Professor Catherine McDougall, Queensland Health

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: To identify workplace factors influencing professional fulfilment, burnout and wellbeing among medical officers within Queensland, informing strategies to foster a positive medical culture.

Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among Queensland medical officers, integrating quantitative wellbeing measures including the Stanford Professional Fulfillment Index and a workplace issues inventory to evaluate perceived impacts on work-related wellbeing. Qualitative feedback complemented the quantitative data to deepen understanding of workplace challenges and potential interventions.

Results: Survey responses from 2073 doctors comprised at least 65% (n=1304) senior medical officers and 35% (n=700) doctors in training (including interns, residents and unaccredited/accredited registrars). Around 33% (n=686) of participants were international medical graduates. Overall, 25% (n=535) reported professional fulfilment and 49% (n=1015) reported burnout. The key issues impacting wellbeing were (i) workload, (ii) organisational processes, (iii) resources, (iv) culture, (v) supervision and support, (vi) professional development. Potential strategies and targeted interventions in each of these domains were identified.

Conclusions: This comprehensive evaluation of medical workforce wellbeing at a statewide level provides a detailed insight into the current context of doctor’s wellbeing. Notably, it highlights the areas which need to be addressed to improve wellbeing, emphasising the need for work practice reform and culture change in the medical profession to optimise professional fulfilment and mitigate the prevalence of burnout among doctors. This locally contextualised, evidence-based approach offers a strong foundation to promote a healthier medical workforce and optimise the culture within the healthcare system.

Speaker
Ms Rita Holland

From Evidence to Innovation: Building a Scalable Coaching Model for Clinician Wellbeing

Speaker Bio: Rita stands at the intersection of healthcare, coaching, and innovation—blending clinical insight with startup agility to transform how clinicians lead and thrive. With over 2,500 hours of coaching experience, she founded Capstan Partners in 2019 delivering bespoke, evidence-based professional development in healthcare. Rita led Australia’s first coaching efficacy study for doctors during COVID-19. As an ICF PCC assessor, mentor coach and educator, she champions ethical, high-impact coaching grounded in psychological science in the healthcare setting. Her work continues to elevate clinician wellbeing, leadership capability, and the quality of care in systems under pressure.

Authors: Ms Rita Holland, Capstan Partners; Dr Sara Thorn, Australian Institute of Professional Coaches

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Early-career clinicians face higher risks of burnout, disconnection, and limited access to professional development. This impacts wellbeing, retention, workplace culture and patient outcomes. Coaching is known to enhance wellbeing and self-efficacy. The growing interest in coaching as a meta-skill has resulted in an increase in coaching-trained clinicians, who need to develop and maintain their coaching experience, and clinicians looking to receive coaching for professional development. This pilot asks: Can a peer-powered coaching model expand access to coaching in healthcare while supporting clinician-coach development—and is it scalable?

Methods: The Coaching Exchange pilot is an initiative connecting coach-trained clinicians with early-career clinicians seeking accessible coaching. Organisational sponsors were invited to register healthcare professionals to participate. Involving up to four coaches and sixteen clients: four one-hour coaching sessions each over a four-month period. Coaches received group mentoring and client feedback; clients were matched based on preference and received structured coaching. Feedback and iterative evaluation processes were embedded to inform program improvement and future scale-up.

Results: This pilot is being evaluated for: increase in coaching experience hours; effectiveness of coach – coachee matching; coachee reported outcomes; coach confidence and skill development; organisational satisfaction and value for money; feasibility/scalability measures.

Conclusions: This pilot is currently active and results will be available to discuss at the conference. Our aim will be to present a pragmatic, scalable model for embedding coaching into healthcare settings using coach-trained staff. Results will inform future rollout and refinement, with the goal of supporting long-term cultural transformation in healthcare.

Speaker
Dr Kathryn Hutt

My Bushfire Plan: personalising self-care for a sustainable medical career

Speaker Bio: Dr Kathryn Hutt is a general practitioner, medical educator, and Medical Director of Doctors’ Health NSW. She works in urban general practice, provides fly-in fly-out care to remote communities and also delivers university and professional programs for GPs, junior doctors, and medical students. Kathryn leads state-wide initiatives to support doctor wellbeing and is a sought-after facilitator known for her grounded, values-based approach. She designs and delivers workshops on self-care, leadership, and peer connection across all stages of medical practice. With a focus on psychological safety, sustainable careers, and culture change, she brings clarity, insight, and credibility to conversations about what it means to thrive in medicine.

Authors: Dr Kathryn Hutt, Doctors’ Health Service NSW; Dr Ameeta Patel, Doctors’ Health Service NSW

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Doctors and medical students often delay seeking support, not always because of stigma or lack of insight, but because they’re unsure what help is available, believe they should cope alone, or fail to notice the build-up of stress. Many lack a proactive approach to wellbeing during stable periods, leaving them unprepared when pressure rises. “My Bushfire Plan,” based in self-determination theory and adapted from a disaster management framework, offers an innovative, practical way to plan ahead before challenges escalate.

Methods: This interactive, workshop-style session introduces a personalised approach to self-care, grounded in peer support and psychological safety. Participants engage in reflection and small group discussion to explore individual stress responses, vulnerabilities, and protective strategies. Activities include Diversity Bingo—a creative, inclusive way to explore difference, prompt honest reflection, and reinforce that self-care is not one-size-fits-all. The Bushfire Plan provides a structure for monitoring wellbeing, acting early, and developing shared language to describe how someone is feeling—making it easier to seek or offer support.

Results: Participants report greater confidence in recognising stress, improved awareness of support options, and a stronger sense of empowerment. Each leaves with a draft or completed Bushfire Plan and practical tools to sustain wellbeing in daily practice and during periods of stress.

Conclusions: Personalised self-care planning promotes early intervention, peer connection, and self-awareness. The Bushfire Plan supports a more adaptive, inclusive, and psychologically safe medical culture—across diverse settings and stages. Participants are encouraged to identify their own ‘volunteer fire brigade’—trusted peers, family, and professionals they can call on before stress becomes a crisis.

Speaker
Ms Claire Hutton

A framework for treating doctor-patients

Speaker Bio: Claire is a doctoral student in the Department of General Practice at Monash University. Her PhD focuses on doctors who provide care for their peers, looking at the challenges involved when your patient is also a doctor. She has a longstanding interest in doctors’ health, working as the consultant psychologist for the AMA(Vic) Peer Support Service since its inception in 2008. As well as part-time PhD study, she teaches in post-graduate counselling programs at Deakin University, and provides psychological support on humanitarian aid worker training programs.

Authors: Ms Claire Hutton, Department of General Practice, Monash University; Dr / Senior Lecturer Dr Margaret Kay, General Practice Clinical Unit, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland; Dr / Clinical Associate Professor Jill Benson, Discipline of General Practice, University of Adelaide; Dr / Clinical Associate Lecturer Shaun Prentice, School of Psychology University of Adelaide Research Officer, General Practice Training Research Team Royal Australian College of General Practitioners; Associate Professor Chris Barton, Senior Lecturer, Department of General Practice, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: The complex dynamics of a doctor-doctor consultation are receiving growing recognition. Guidelines state that doctor-patients should be treated like any other patient, yet this is challenging for the treating doctor. Discomfort about clinical expertise on both sides, unease about what each think of the other, and boundary issues, can be difficult to navigate, especially if they are likely to cross paths (professionally or socially) outside the consultation. Importantly, these challenges can result in the doctor-patient receiving less than optimal care.

Methods: The framework was built on the foundation of an extensive literature review, and a qualitative research study interviewing GPs about their experiences and challenges when treating doctor-patients. Findings were then distilled in consultation with doctors’ health experts.

Results: A practical framework will be presented, highlighting similarities and differences to treating non-doctor patients, and using examples designed to help the treating doctor navigate the important role of being a doctor’s doctor.

Conclusions: The framework will support doctors to feel more comfortable in delivering compassionate, comprehensive care, when their patient is also a doctor.

Speaker
Ms Claire Hutton

Calls to Anonymous Doctor Peer Support Service: Why doctors use the service, and the experiences of those taking calls

Speaker Bio: Claire is a doctoral student in the Department of General Practice at Monash University. Her PhD focuses on doctors who provide care for their peers, looking at the challenges involved when your patient is also a doctor. She has a longstanding interest in doctors’ health, working as the consultant psychologist for the AMA(Vic) Peer Support Service since its inception in 2008. As well as part-time PhD study, she teaches in post-graduate counselling programs at Deakin University, and provides psychological support on humanitarian aid worker training programs.

Authors: Ms Claire Hutton, Department of General Practice, Monash University; Ms Kay Dunkley, Former Coordinator, AMA Victoria Peer Support Service

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Barriers to help-seeking mean doctors need options to access support. The Australian Medical Association (Vic) introduced its Peer Support Service (PSS) in 2008, a phone service for doctors and medical students experiencing difficulties in relation to either work or personal issues. Callers are able to access help from a trained peer, while being able to maintain anonymity. The study aims to identify the characteristics of, and problems reported by, doctors seeking help from a peer-led telephone support service, and explore the experiences of the volunteer doctors answering calls to the PSS.

Methods: 1. Retrospective analysis of records of all valid calls to the PSS (2008-2024). 2. Case series discourse analysis of the call record open-text section, where the volunteer notes challenges they experienced during the call, with addressing the presenting issues, or managing the emotional state in which the caller presented.

Results: Analysis of 2008-2018 call records found a higher percentage of males called about legal and Ahpra notification concerns, couple relationship issues, and physical illness. While analysis of 2019-2024 calls is in progress, an increasing number of Ahpra-related calls immediately after receiving a notification, suggests that doctors who find themselves in sensitive or high-risk situations, are more likely to seek help when they can remain anonymous. Challenges for peers included providing support outside of their usual sphere of expertise, and not being able to provide solutions.

Conclusions: The study furthers our knowledge of why doctors use anonymous peer services. The number of doctors calling in high-risk situations supports the need for this kind of service. The study also contributes to a deeper understanding of the dynamics, challenges and rewards of helping fellow doctors.

Speaker
Professor Rowena Ivers

Pilot of reflective practice using the group clinical supervision model among GPs and junior doctors

Speaker Bio: Professor Rowena Ivers is an academic GP who also trained as a public health physician. She has worked for 28 years in the Aboriginal community-controlled sector, and is an academic at the Graduate School of Medicine at the University of Wollongong. She is member of the RACGP national ethics committee and RACGP Quality Expert Committee. She is experienced research, being CI on over $21M grants.

Author: Professor Rowena Ivers (University of Wollongong), Dr Alison Tomlin (University of Wollongong), Dr Jane Barker, Associate Professor Susan Thomas (University of Wollongong), , Dr Amelia Shanahan (NSW Health), Dr Abby Moran (NSW Health), Dr Bishan Rajapakse (NSW Health), Dr Rebekah Hoffman (University of Wollongong), Dr Hannah Gibbs (NSW Health), Dr Sanaz Khanlari (University of Wollongong), and Kiri Adams (University of Wollongong).

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Clinical group supervision refers to a structured group facilitated by a senior practitioner that allows health professionals to reflect on scenarios in clinical and professional settings.
Our aim was to develop a pragmatic model of group clinical supervision suitable for medical practitioners, train clinician supervisors, develop supporting resources and evaluate this model to consider feasibility and acceptability, and changes in burnout measures. This pilot study was funded by Avant.

Methods: We used the clinical supervision model developed by our team (Moran et al. 2023) which involves 6 regular sessions with an experienced clinician supervisor. Focus groups were held pre- and post-intervention, audio recorded, transcribed and themes analysed in NVivo. We also undertook RedCap surveys pre- and post- intervention, assessing Maslach scores.

Results: From August to Feb 2025, we attempted to recruited medical practitioners aged over 18 years, including Junior Medical Officers (face to face and online), GP registrars (face to face and online) and GPs (face to face and online) with anticipated sample size (48 participants). Participants included 5 JMOs, GPs (online) and 3 GPs (face to face).

Participants reported that group clinical supervision had the capacity to support clinicians and to allow them to reflect on challenging scenarios with patients and colleagues. We failed to recruit to online JMO and GP registrar groups despite extensive promotion, itself a test of feasibility and acceptability.

Conclusions: Group clinical supervision is used routinely in other health professions but rarely used by medical practitioners but appears to be feasible for some medical practitioners.

Speaker
Dr Kym Jenkins

Peer Support for Doctors’ Health: Shifting to Preventative Wellbeing

Speaker Bio: Immediate past Chair CPMC, Past President RANZCP, Chair of Migrant and Refugee Mental Health Partnership.

Author: Angela Magarry

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: To describe the nationwide peer support service model as an important innovation in preventative medical wellbeing service.

Methods: We will present the model of service delivery, why it is uniquely successful as demonstrated through statistics and practical case studies. We will present the findings on research undertaken in the field and results from post service evaluations which points to peer support improving reflective ability and in providing psychological safety.

Results: There is a strong connection to burnout prevention from peer support and ultimately extending to strategic policy focussed on recruitment and retention.

Conclusions: Hand-n-Hand is a peer support service which has been well received by all healthcare professionals because it has filled a gap in the available protective wellbeing services. It should be embedded into the curriculum for medical education and specialty training as it will positively enhance the culture of medicine.

Speakers
A/Prof Sandhya Limaye
Dr Esther Kang

Nurture, connect, share: strengthening community via a quarterly well-being newsletter in a tertiary hospital

Speaker Bio (A/Prof Sandhya Limaye): Appointed as Director of Well-being at Concord Hospital in 2021 with the MDOK program, Sandhya completed the Stanford physician well-being director course in 2021 and the Chief Wellness Officer course in 2023. Working with MDOK, she has implemented a number of well-being initiatives at Concord Hospital, with a particular focus on addressing junior doctor well-being, and a comprehensive approach to fostering a culture of kindness in healthcare organisations.

Speaker Bio (Dr Esther Kang): Dr Esther Kang is currently a resident medical officer in the Sydney Local Health District with an interest in general practice and regional/rural medicine. With previous experiences at the Clive Bishop Medical Centre in Broken Hill (also a Royal Flying Doctors base) as well as the Aboriginal Medical Service in Redfern, she has a passion for working with communities and advocating for their care at a grassroots level. She is also part of the editorial team of the MDOK quarterly newsletter, a recent initiative aimed at strengthening a sense of community in a tertiary hospital. Outside of work, she enjoys Pilates, reading while out in nature, spending time with her Christian community and making cocktails.

Authors: A/Prof Sandhya Limaye, Concord Hospital; Dr Kylie Ngo, Concord Hospital; Dr Esther Kang, Concord Hospital; Dr Anita Deng, Concord Hospital; Dr Junita Tung, Concord Hospital

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Teaching hospitals have a rotating junior medical workforce (JMOs), as well as many senior clinicians, some of whom can feel isolated in their departments. Communication and connection amongst physicians has numerous benefits, however this can be challenging in large workplaces. A well-being program needs to overcome this obstacle.

Methods: Since 2021, a quarterly digital well-being newsletter, MDOK Matters has been created and distributed with an editorial team inclusive of the well-being team and volunteer junior doctors. Newsletters are designed using Canva; printed copies are placed in doctor’s lounges and offices. The newsletter has a distinctive masthead, editor’s message, feature articles and regular inclusions including a ‘collective noun’ caption contest. Updates from the junior doctor association and physician training network are included.

Results: 18 editions of ‘MDOK Matters’ have been created since 2021 and have had a positive impact on engagement with the hospital well-being program. Featured articles have covered diverse topics including cultural events, well-being tips and resources, experiences during rural placements, film reviews, recipes and snapshots of department members. Engagement was high as assessed via a feedback survey, and informally by the number of submissions received for the caption contest.

Conclusions: A regular well-being newsletter is a low-cost yet powerful means of connecting clinicians in a tertiary hospital. The newsletter showcases the hospital community and diversity, and serves as a resource on available well-being resources and upcoming initiatives or events. Dissemination of the newsletter has been invaluable in connecting, entertaining and informing clinicians across 2 hospitals.

Speaker
Dr Emily Kirkpatrick

Restorative Just Culture in Practice: Strengthening Ward-to-Board Safety Signals in a Health Service

Speaker Bio: Dr Emily Kirkpatrick is a dual-trained medical administrator and general practitioner with experience across public, private, and academic healthcare sectors. She is a non-executive director on multiple boards and Managing Director of EKology Health, advising on strategy, governance and digital health innovation. Emily formerly served as Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Executive Director of Community and Primary Care Partnerships for SA Health, leading SA’s COVID-19 community response. Passionate about improving medical culture and system learning, she champions restorative just culture, psychological safety and clinician wellbeing from boardrooms to bedside across complex healthcare environments.

Author: Dr Emily Kirkpatrick

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: High-functioning healthcare systems rely on psychologically safe environments to support staff wellbeing and enable effective responses to adverse events. From a board perspective, implementing a restorative just culture with a board patron was critical to closing the loop on safety signals, from the ward to the boardroom, by prioritising learning over blame. This abstract explores lessons from embedding a just culture approach within a large health network to enhance reporting, transparency and clinician trust.

Methods: A board-level initiative was introduced to improve clinical governance oversight through a restorative just culture lens. This included redefining reporting expectations, implementing structured debriefs, and incorporating stories of harm into board agendas. Focus was placed on enabling upward communication and reducing the fear of a punitive response. The key takeaway for the health service was understanding system failures holistically. Semi-structured interviews with clinicians and board members supplemented the evaluation.

Results: Early outcomes demonstrate improved incident reporting rates, increased staff engagement with review processes and greater clinical confidence in escalation pathways. Board directors reported improved visibility of systemic risks and more meaningful engagement with frontline experiences. Structured narrative-based reporting enabled richer interpretation of safety trends and staff distress signals.

Conclusions: Board-led commitment to a restorative just culture strengthens psychological safety and reinforces accountability without blame. Understanding the complexity behind human error supports a culture of trust and continuous improvement. When boards are active stewards of this culture, health services become safer, more compassionate places to practise medicine and deliver care.

Speaker
A/Prof Sandhya Limaye

Impact of workplace unit on the dietary habits of junior doctors at a metropolitan tertiary hospital

Speaker Bio: Appointed as Director of Well-being at Concord Hospital in 2021 with the MDOK program, Sandhya completed the Stanford physician well-being director course in 2021 and the Chief Wellness Officer course in 2023. Working with MDOK, she has implemented a number of well-being initiatives at Concord Hospital, with a particular focus on addressing junior doctor well-being, and a comprehensive approach to fostering a culture of kindness in healthcare organisations.

Author: Dr Anvesh Chalasani

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Healthy eating and regular meal breaks support workplace performance and well-being but can be challenging for junior medical officers (JMOs), who rotate across diverse clinical units. This study assessed the varying impact of surgical, non-surgical, and shift-work terms on JMO dietary habits.

Methods: Anonymous surveys were distributed to 80 JMOs in postgraduate years 1 and 2 at the end of a 10-week clinical term during their 3rd, 4th, and 5th rotations in 2024. JMOs reported on their diet, meal break frequency, and perceived barriers to eating regularly. Results were analysed under the above categories of clinical terms.

Results: A total of 48 responses were received: 25 from non-surgical, 16 surgical, and 7 shift-work JMOs. In non-surgical terms, 48% cited interruptions from calls or emergencies as key meal break barriers. Conversely, 63% of surgical and 57% of shift-working JMOs reported long hours, including early starts and overtime, as the main obstacle. Non-surgical JMOs ate lunch more often (3.5 days/week) than surgical JMOs (2.6 days/week) and were more frequently encouraged by senior staff to eat (2.2 vs 1.5 days/week). Shift-working JMOs reported the lowest dietary satisfaction (5.1/10) and were least likely to consume breakfast and dinner.

Conclusions: Workplace setting significantly influences JMO nutrition, and barriers differ by unit type. Tailored strategies are thus required. JMOs in surgical and shift-work roles are at greater risk and should be prioritised in nutrition-focussed initiatives. Support from senior staff is associated with improved lunch habits and is identified as a simple strategy that can have a positive impact.

Speakers
Dr Alisha Panambalana and A/Prof Sandhya Limaye

The Everest Challenge!: an innovative team-based competition addressing physical activity and camaraderie at a tertiary hospital

Speaker Bio (Dr Alisha Panambalana): Alisha is a medical registrar with a strong interest in Geriatric Medicine and holistic models of care. She is passionate about promoting wellbeing not only for her patients, but also within the healthcare workforce. At her last hospital, she led the innovative Everest Challenge initiative designed to encourage physical activity, teamwork, and camaraderie among staff on busy wards. Alisha enjoys running, reading and spending time with her lively husky Mr Blizzard.

Speaker Bio (A/Prof Sandhya Limaye): Appointed as Director of Well-being at Concord Hospital in 2021 with the MDOK program, Sandhya completed the Stanford physician well-being director course in 2021 and the Chief Wellness Officer course in 2023. Working with MDOK, she has implemented a number of well-being initiatives at Concord Hospital, with a particular focus on addressing junior doctor well-being, and a comprehensive approach to fostering a culture of kindness in healthcare organisations.

Authors: A/Prof Sandhya Limaye, Director of Well-being, MDOK, Concord Hospital; Dr Alisha Panambalana, St Vincent’s Hospital; Dr. Preetham Kadappu, St Vincent’s Hospital; A/Prof Sean Riminton, Concord Hospital; Ms Kripa Achan, MDOK Program Manager, Concord Hospital

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Social connection amongst clinicians improves patient care and increases job satisfaction. Likewise, physical activity positively impacts well-being, yet a significant number of healthcare professionals are sedentary at work. The Everest Challenge combines these aspects of well-being through a competitive stair-climbing activity.

Methods: The Everest Challenge is an annual, team-based, stair-climbing competition. The altitude of Mount Everest equates to 2950 flights of stairs at our facility. We calculated that 33 flights per person per day, in a team of 3, would reach the summit in 30 days. Participants monitored stair counts using mobile phones, with team data submitted weekly. Participant experiences and outcomes were evaluated with a post-challenge survey.

Results: 33 of 36 participants reached the summit in 2023 and 15 of 33 in 2024. 35/48 who reached the summit responded to the survey. 15/35 joined for team-building, 9/35 for enjoyment, and 8/35 to increase physical activity. 97% reported climbing more stairs than usual, 83% engaging in more exercise overall, and 77% felt fitter during the event. 80% were more likely to continue using stairs at work following the event and 89% of participants reported feeling more connected to team-members and other participants. 100% of participants enjoyed the challenge and all but two indicated they would join again.

Conclusions: The Everest Challenge is a simple, low-cost initiative that promotes physical activity and enhances camaraderie and team dynamics. Completion during the winter months enables incidental exercise at work when opportunities for outdoor sports are limited.

Speaker
A/Prof Sandhya Limaye

Cultivating Kindness in Healthcare Facilities – a quadruple approach to the quadruple aim

Speaker Bio: Appointed as Director of Well-being at Concord Hospital in 2021 with the MDOK program, Sandhya completed the Stanford physician well-being director course in 2021 and the Chief Wellness Officer course in 2023. Working with MDOK, she has implemented a number of well-being initiatives at Concord Hospital, with a particular focus on addressing junior doctor well-being, and a comprehensive approach to fostering a culture of kindness in healthcare organisations.

Authors: A/Prof Sandhya Limaye, MDOK, Concord Hospital; Dr Stewart Condon, Director of Medical Services, Concord Hospital; Ms Kripa Achan, MDOK Program Manager, Concord Hospital

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: A central tenet of the medical profession, kindness in healthcare workers is associated with improved patient satisfaction and outcomes. Moreover, kindness and prosocial behaviours positively impact interpersonal relationships, and benefit the recipient, performer, and even observer of the kind act. At an organizational level, a culture of kindness improves job satisfaction, and reduces burnout and staff turnover.

Methods: We aim to foster a ‘Culture of Kindness’ with a comprehensive quadruple approach addressing kindness to self, others, the community and environment. Examples of initiatives include organisational support of self-care, staff appreciation systems, charity drives, mentorship programs and an appreciation of the bidirectional impact between kindness and the environment with sustainability programs and provision of ‘green’ spaces.

Results: 25 kindness initiatives have been implemented, directed at self (8), others (7), community (6) and environment (4). Evaluation data for a number of these indicates a positive on those who participate. Initiatives were easy to implement, low cost and can readily be incorporated into healthcare organisations of varying size and resource availability.

Conclusions: Improving the working environment for clinicians (the fourth goal of the quadruple aim) is key to reducing burnout and maximising professional fulfillment. An organisational approach centred on kindness promotes inclusive, equitable and higher quality healthcare and positively impacts staff and patient experience. We demonstrate that kindness in a healthcare organisation is best promoted by a comprehensive individual and system-level approach that encompasses its many domains.

Speaker
A/Prof Sandhya Limaye

Personalised Medicine – an approach to fostering cohesion between rotating junior doctors and their teams

Speaker Bio: Appointed as Director of Well-being at Concord Hospital in 2021 with the MDOK program, Sandhya completed the Stanford physician well-being director course in 2021 and the Chief Wellness Officer course in 2023. Working with MDOK, she has implemented a number of well-being initiatives at Concord Hospital, with a particular focus on addressing junior doctor well-being, and a comprehensive approach to fostering a culture of kindness in healthcare organisations.

Authors:Dr Alexandra Batinic, Resident in ICU Ms Kripa Achan, MDOK Program manager, Concord Hospital A/Prof Sandhya Limaye, Director of Well-being, Concord Hospital

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: A sense of belonging and connection to others is a fundamental pillar in Maslow’s hierarchy of well-being needs, reflecting the essential human need to feel seen and valued. At an organisational level, successful relationships, especially within
teams are associated with increased efficiency, professional fulfillment, and improved outcomes. High performance teams demonstrate cohesiveness which is facilitated by social ties. In their first two years, junior doctors rotate every 10 weeks, which carries a risk of feeling anonymous and undervalued.

Methods: The Personalised Medicine initiative aims to improve junior doctor integration with their teams by facilitating introductions and highlighting their individuality. We wanted to
promote connections and make the frequent transitions between teams easier. An open-ended questionnaire was provided to interns at orientation where they were asked to share something about themselves that would be distributed to their teams with each rotation.

Results: 31/51 interns participated in 2024 and 33/52 in 2025. Responses varied from more detailed responses to the very simple ‘I like dogs’. We have identified soccer players, dancers, coffee enthusiasts, budding chefs and jujitsu athletes in our midst. 20 of 31 interns responded to an evaluation survey. 100% of interns who recalled having a conversation
around their information reported the interaction made them feel more welcome.

Conclusions: This simple and low-cost initiative promotes social ties and team cohesion and particularly addresses the vulnerability of the rotating workforce. In a healthcare environment where team-work is critical, this is demonstrated to have significant impact on performance, efficiency and well-being.

Speaker
Ms Victoria Lister

People, peers and places: How clinician coaching supports individuals, enhances team learning and strengthens workplaces

Speaker Bio: Victoria Lister is a researcher, final-stage PhD candidate, workplace coach and well-networked consultant specialising in individual and institutional responses to issues that impact medical professional safety and wellbeing. Her thesis explores junior doctors’ silence about their working conditions, and other research examines different aspects of medical professional leadership. At ADHC 2025 she will be presenting a project that is investigating how workplace coaching can enhance emergency medicine clinicians’ communication skills and build team learning and performance. Victoria has published and presented her research in a variety of settings and is active on LinkedIn.

Authors: Ms Victoria Lister, Griffith University; Dr Andrew Rixon, Griffith University

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Emergency medicine clinicians face significant communication challenges that impact individual wellbeing, team dynamics, and workplace culture. This in-progress study explores workplace coaching as a practical intervention to enhance communication skills across the three pillars of medical culture: supporting individual practitioners (People), strengthening collegial relationships (Peers), and improving workplace environments (Places).

Methods: Emergency department doctors and nurses participated in four 30-minute, solution-focused coaching sessions over several months. Pre- and post-coaching interviews captured participants’ perceptions of their communication abilities and coaching experience. Data analysis included coaching field notes, researcher reflections and interview transcripts.

Results: Coaching effectively enhanced communication across all three cultural dimensions. At the individual level (People), participants developed greater self-awareness, learning to pause before speaking and reduce self-doubt. Participants discovered how asking questions created shared learning opportunities rather than exposing weakness, with team members benefiting from hearing both questions and answers (Peers) and workplace impact (Places) was evident through improved team dynamics and positive supervisor feedback.

Conclusions: This coaching approach demonstrates a practical pathway to transforming medical culture by fostering collaboration and support across and between professions. By reframing questioning as a strength that benefits entire teams, this intervention promotes interprofessional learning between doctors and nurses. The coaching model provides sustainable support within workplaces by embedding communication practices that enhance work practices and team dynamics, creating a replicable framework for developing supportive medical environments where collaborative learning thrives.

Speaker
Dr Marisa Magiros

Chocolate, Check-ins, and Clinical Psychologists: A Practical Framework for JMO Support

Speaker Bio: Marisa is the Director of Education and Training International Medical Graduates at Canberra Health Services and was involved in GP training for 14 years. She is also the Medical Director ACT Drs4Drs and a GP in Canberra. Marisa is passionate about doctor’s health and wellbeing, changing medical culture, women’s health, clinical reasoning and reducing diagnostic errors. Marisa has worked in many different settings including as an international cruise ship doctor for 2.5 years.

Authors: Dr Marisa Magiros, Canberra Health Services; Dr Luke Streitberg, Director of Prevocational Education and Training, Senior Staff Specialist Clinical Forensic Medicine, Canberra Health Services; Louise Ramsay, Clinical Psychologist, Canberra Health Services; Dr Peta Pentony, Rheumatology Staff Specialist, Deputy Director Prevocational Education and Training, Canberra Health Services; Oleksander Demianenko, Manager – Medical Education and Simulation, MOSCETU, Canberra Health Services

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: This presentation outlines a hospital network’s evolving framework to support Junior Medical Officers (JMOs), shaped by the COVID-19 response and the tragic suicide of a consultant. These events prompted a renewed focus on wellbeing and medical culture.

Methods: The Director of Prevocational Education and Training (DPET) team identified key welfare and training needs, expanding services to include a clinical psychologist, targeted support for international graduates and unaccredited registrars, and more Prevocational Medical Education Officers. The “Blue Buddies” peer support program was introduced, with training in psychological first aid and support skills, and supervision by the clinical psychologist. Feedback from JMO surveys and a ward round project guide ongoing improvements. Simple, effective initiatives—like snack boxes and a welcoming space for informal check-ins—have fostered open conversations. A moderated WhatsApp group and close collaboration with education, rostering, and recruitment teams ensure a responsive, equity-focused approach. The network-wide support extends across all PGY1 and PGY2 rotations. A Chief Wellbeing Officer now oversees welfare strategy for all medical officers.

Results: There has been a rise in JMO engagement with the DPET team, increased interest in Blue Buddy roles, improved survey ratings, and better JMO retention. Psychological safety has been strengthened through the ward round initiative.

Conclusions: The program has received consistent positive feedback, contributing to a more supportive and positive medical culture. The long-term goal is to expand psychological support to all medical officers.

Speaker
Dr Marisa Magiros

Creating Safe Spaces: A Local Doctors’ Health Service Innovations

Speaker Bio: Marisa is the Director of Education and Training International Medical Graduates at Canberra Health Services and was involved in GP training for 14 years. She is also the Medical Director ACT Drs4Drs and a GP in Canberra. Marisa is passionate about doctor’s health and wellbeing, changing medical culture, women’s health, clinical reasoning and reducing diagnostic errors. Marisa has worked in many different settings including as an international cruise ship doctor for 2.5 years.

Authors: Dr Marisa Magiros, ACT Drs4Drs, University of Canberra Medical and Counselling Centre, Canberra Health Services; Dr Kerrie Aust, President, AMA ACT, Chair Ethics and Medicolegal Committee, AMA Federal Member, AMA Federal Council Senior Clinical Lecturer, Australian National University School of Medicine and Psychology. DRS4DRS ACT Ochre Health Centre Garran RACGP Registrar Supervisor

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: This presentation outlines the initiatives of a state/territory-based doctors’ health service aimed at supporting local medical professionals’ wellbeing.

Methods: Over recent years, the service has expanded significantly. The on-call support team has grown, and 2–3 in-person educational events are now delivered annually for doctors and medical students. The service actively engages with universities, hospitals, and general practices to address current needs in the medical community. Educational content focuses on mental health and wellbeing, tailored to local demand. Each session also features a creative activity to foster connection and stress relief—past examples include African drumming, creative writing, painting, and even axe throwing. The on-call team maintains a curated list of GPs, psychiatrists, and psychologists open to caring for colleagues, as well as mentors. The team meets regularly and participates in continuing professional development (CPD) focused on health and wellbeing for medical professionals.

Results: Call volumes to the on-call team are steadily rising—a positive indicator of increased awareness and trust. Education sessions are consistently well-attended by a diverse group of participants across specialties and career stages. The format is intentionally flexible, allowing sessions to adapt to the group’s interests and needs. Informal interactions during meals help build strong professional connections.

Conclusions: We are proud of the growth and impact of our service and look forward to sharing our experiences, learning from others, and contributing to a more supportive culture in medicine.

Speaker
Dr Julie McClellan

“From intent to impact” – how one medical college actioned its commitment to registrar wellbeing

Speaker Bio: Dr Julie McClellan is a general practitioner with over 25 years of experience in clinical practice and medical education. She serves as the National Lead Medical Educator for Registrar Wellbeing at the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP). In this role, she leads a passionate working group to deliver the Registrar Wellbeing Project. This project aims to support the mental health and wellbeing of GP registrars across Australia. She is committed to fostering positive and supportive training environments for future general practitioners, ensuring they receive the necessary support to thrive in their careers.

Authors: Dr Julie McClellan, National Lead Medical Educator – Registrar Wellbeing, The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP); Dr Shaun Prentice, Clinical Associate Lecturer, School of Psychology, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA; Senior Research Assistant, General Practice Training Research Team, The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP)

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Doctors in training report high levels of stress and burnout, which compromises their mental health and wellbeing. This can lead to fewer registrars completing training or transitioning into long-term roles. Addressing the wellbeing of trainees is vital for ensuring the sustainability of the Australian medical workforce. This presentation describes the journey of one Australian medical college in actioning its commitment to registrar wellbeing.

Methods: In 2021, the college became a signatory to the Every Doctor Every Setting Framework (EDES). This commitment was actioned in 2023 when a Wellbeing Committee, with registrar representation, was established. The Wellbeing Committee used a program logic model to identify wellbeing priorities. These priorities and subsequent recommendations were reported to the college executive who endorsed the funding of a Registrar Wellbeing Project.

Results: The Registrar Wellbeing Project has been mapped to the EDES framework. It aims to improve registrar wellbeing by implementing targeted initiatives: a comprehensive suite of resources to be used by registrars, supervisors, and medical educators including clinical vignettes, a wellbeing webinar series, educational videos and a wellbeing webpage; upskilling college staff to improve the quality of wellbeing support provided; a review of college policies and procedures that impact registrar wellbeing; the integration of peer support across training.

Conclusions: It is anticipated that the Registrar Wellbeing Project will be fully implemented by October 2026. The project will improve the training experience for registrars but also serves as a blueprint for how a college can action its intentions to positively impact the wellbeing of its members.

Speaker
Assoc Prof Paul McGurgan

It’s rife within the hospital…’ Medical students’ experiences in clinical placements

Speaker Bio: After Paul graduated from TCD med school in 1995, he decided that he needed less sleep and more adrenaline in his life… although he later found that starting a family could have achieved these same goals, he decided to become an O&G. Paul is Assoc Dean Student matters for UWA Med School. He has research interests in medical professionalism, patient safety, and health professional wellbeing.

Author: Assoc Prof Paul McGurgan, UWA Medical School

Structured Abstract

Background: Bullying, discrimination and harassment (B,D&H) are unfortunately prevalent in healthcare settings. A 2018 survey of UWA final year medical students found that 40% had experienced bullying on a clinical placement, 25% encountered discrimination and 12% reporting sexual harassment. Only 1/3 students knew what to do/how to report these sorts of problems. The medical school used this information to work with the medical student society (WAMSS) and produce a resource for students and clinical supervisors, with the intention that education and resources would decrease the prevalence of these behaviours and improve reporting. In 2023 the B,D&H survey was repeated.

Methods: Convenience sampling anonymous survey to all MD students attending clinical placements (Years 2-4).

Results: Overall participants who report experiencing bullying has significantly decreased from 2018 (40%) to 2023 (32%). Respondents more likely to report bullying. Participants who report experiencing discrimination has not changed from 2018 (25%) to 2023 (24%); gender discrimination is most frequent (67%), then race/ethnicity (44%). Overall participants who report experiencing sexual harassment has not changed from 2018 (12%); perpetrators almost always male (95%). Respondents still not likely to report sexual harassment- 37% stated they would not seek to address sexual harassment behaviour (versus 54% of respondents in 2018 cohort; p= NS).

Conclusions: Data interpretation limited by relatively small numbers in some MD cohorts. Although bullying experience has decreased and confidence in reporting/acting on it has increased, given that 1/3 students experience bullying there is no room for complacency. Sexual harassment remains a problem; similar to discriminatory behaviours, almost ½ students who experience these behaviours do not report. Despite the introduction of the MD B,D,H resource in 2019, more than ½ student respondents stated they do not know about it/know what to do. In 2025, the Bullying, Inclusivity, Respect, Discrimination and Harassment (BIRDH) process was introduced to provide a safe means of reporting for students, and identify ‘hotspots’ with either concerning or exemplary workplace culture.

Speaker
Assoc Prof Paul McGurgan

Medical students’ opinions on substance use are concerning…but their views on alcohol use may be a positive change

Speaker Bio: After Paul graduated from TCD med school in 1995, he decided that he needed less sleep and more adrenaline in his life… although he later found that starting a family could have achieved these same goals, he decided to become an O&G. Paul is Assoc Dean Student matters for UWA Med School. He has research interests in medical professionalism, patient safety, and health professional wellbeing.

Author: Assoc Prof Paul McGurgan, UWA Medical School

Structured Abstract

Background: Studies show that medical students and doctors have risks for self-care and substance use. Cannabis is reported to be the most common illicit substance used by medical students (approx. 1:3). No studies have triangulated opinions from the public, medical students and doctors on self-care/substance use dilemmas.

Aims: This study aims to address the following questions: Do members of the public, qualified doctors, and medical students have different opinions regarding medical student self-care/substance use dilemmas? What factors influence respondents opinions on acceptability of self-care/substance use dilemmas?

Methods: National anonymous survey of Australian medical students, members of the public and qualified doctors, with convenience sampling.

Results: Survey recruited 2602 medical students, 809 Drs and 503 public respondents. Medical students had the lowest acceptability for alcohol misuse (10%), and the highest acceptability for stimulant (12%) or cannabis use (20%). Stimulants were the least acceptable vs cannabis which was the most acceptable drug to misuse. Male respondents were most likely to consider substance use as being acceptable. Senior medical students were more likely to consider substance use as being acceptable compared to junior students.

Conclusions: Medical students have significantly different opinions towards alcohol and substance use than doctors or the public. Generational influences seem to have more influence than health care cultural norms for substance use. Australian med students have comparatively higher acceptability towards using stimulant drugs (12%) than UK students (8%).

Speaker
Dr Sarah Michael

Colleague Care – implementing a staff peer support program

Speaker Bio: Sarah Michael is Director of Psychological Wellbeing as part of the MDOK Team at Sydney Local Health District, and has a history in medical education and leadership positions, winning multiple teaching awards. Clinically, Sarah works as an acute adult psychiatrist in the public sector. She has an interest in severe mental illness and equity in care, and has previously completed a Masters of Public Health and worked for the World Health Organisation as part of the mental health Gap Action Plan to upscale mental health care across the globe. In 2019, she was awarded the UN Women’s Scholarship to complete an Executive MBA at the University of Sydney.

Author: Dr Sarah Michael, MDOK Program | Sydney Local Health District

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Clinicians, in addition to patients, are also harmed by adverse events in healthcare, with many experiencing significant distress which can be disabling and even career-limiting. Evidence increasingly tells us that clinicians involved in adverse events want the support of their peers, and accordingly a number of staff peer support programs have existed internationally for over ten years, with increasing evidence of their benefit. Here, we outline the experience of implementing staff peer support in a large Australian healthcare organization based in Sydney.

Methods: We share replicable steps to implement this program, including initiating the program by building a District-wide team; customising it with clear guidelines and governance covering peer responder selection, training, and escalation pathways; engaging staff through ongoing campaigns; launching the program formally; and maintaining it through regular data collection and quarterly governance meetings.

Results: We will share data on utilization of the program, including demographics on who is using it and how it is being used, the most common adverse events prompting referral, what form the peer responses are taking, and where impacted workers are being referred onto based on recommendations of the peer responders.

Conclusions: Staff peer support programs are a crucial and evidence-based component of a physician wellbeing program. We will share the implementation steps of our program and what data is telling us about how the program is being utilised.

Speaker
Dr Michael Myers

Why do physicians share their lived experience narratives?

Speaker Bio: Dr Myers is Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn, NY where he is Ombudsperson for medical students and lecturer. He is a specialist in physician health — as a clinician “a doctors’ doctor”, researcher, writer, mentor, lecturer, and consultant. He is the author (or co-author) of ten books, most of which are about and for physicians and their families, including “Why Physicians Die by Suicide: Lessons Learned from Their Families and Others Who Cared” (2017), “Becoming a Doctors’ Doctor: A Memoir” (2020), and “Physicians With Lived Experience: How Their Stories Offer Clinical Guidance” (forthcoming, 2025).

Author: Dr Michael Myers

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Increasingly physicians and medical students are sharing their lived experience with psychiatric illness. Given the stigma in the house of medicine, why would physicians do this?

Methods: Between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2024 the author interviewed 32 individuals (28 physicians and 4 medical students). They had all shared their stories of living with a mental illness in scientific publications, the lay press, books, podcasts, personal websites, and blogs on social media. The interview format was via Zoom. Four interviewees were family members of physicians who had died by suicide and publicly shared posthumous accounts of their loved one’s lived experience.

Results: Most of the individuals sharing their stories are trainees and early career physicians. They advocate for change in outdated and discriminatory questions asked by medical licensing boards and credentialing committees. Some wrote their stories after learning of the death of a physician by suicide, the “last straw effect.” Altruism was the number one reason for sharing. Those with refractory illness(es) feel gratitude for surviving, persisting with complicated treatment protocols, and not succumbing to suicide. Interviewees reported improvement in their overall well-being because of sharing their story, shedding a shameful burden. Family members of doctors who died by suicide report some lessening of their grief.

Conclusions: Physicians with lived experience are fighting to diminish the stigma attached to psychiatric illness in doctors and ultimately save lives.

Speaker
Dr Kim Omond

Speaker
Adj Assoc Prof Belinda O’Sullivan

From Surviving to thriving: Supporting IMGs on the pathway to rural GP roles

Speaker Bio: Dr Kim Omond is a practising general practitioner in Adelaide and an early career academic. She obtained fellowship with the RACGP in February 2024 and completed an Academic Registrar Position at the University of Adelaide with the Discipline in General Practice in 2023. Dr Omond holds an honorary titleholder of Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of Adelaide and is a Medical Educator with the RACGP, largely supporting registrars undertaking academic terms. She is also a current Board Director for GPRA (General Practice Registrars Australia).

Speaker Bio: Belinda O’Sullivan is a longstanding rural health workforce and systems researcher with an interest in capacity building and supporting healthy and engaged clinicians. She has consulted for the WHO and Australian and Victorian governments, leading topics related to health workforce training and development and designing optimal professional support systems for the rural workforce.

Authors: Adj Assoc Prof Belinda O’Sullivan, General Practice Supervision Australia and Monash Rural Health, Monash University; Dr Kim Ormond, General Practice Supervision Australia and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners; Dr Neysan Sedaghat, General Practice Supervision Australia and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Australia is heavily reliant on international medical graduates (IMGs) for rural primary healthcare services. Although there is no national strategy addressing how various stakeholders can collaborate to support IMGs to thrive as they migrate and undertake rural GP pathways. The aim was to co-design a national framework for supporting IMGs across rural GP pathways.

Methods: Realist evaluation and participatory action research involved recurrent rounds of focus groups, interviews and feedback cycles exploring solutions to the contextual challenges for IMGs and how to promote their comfort, confidence, competence, belonging and bonding (established mechanisms in the literature). Participants included 41 people across rural GP training, including decisionmakers, training teams, supervisors and IMGs.

Results: The framework identified a wide range of strategies was identified to be needed to promote comfort, confidence, competence, belonging and bonding. The strategies became progressively more populated and nuanced until the research team felt saturation was reached and there was limited additional feedback. Strategies to build comfort including information and tailored advice were most critical at the point of migration. Strategies to promote confidence, competence and belonging to the community such as supportive supervised workplaces and introductions, were needed when moving to new workplaces/communities. When training to become a specialist rural GP, strategies like equitable pathways building on IMG capabilities, scalable resources and family focused training to promote professional belonging and bonding were critical.

Conclusions: The framework can be used by multiple end users to drive a more collaborative activity towards shared goals and improve our capacity to build IMG capability into our health system. It also guides strategies for IMG well-being, including access to health and well-being supports, legal rights, independence of mentors and building awareness about the IMG experience amongst the domestic medical workforce.

Speaker
Dr Shaun Prentice

Promoting Wellbeing among Family Medicine and General Practice Trainees. Which Interventions Work?

Speaker Bio: Dr Prentice is a researcher and registered psychologist. He is passionate about doctors’ health, with his PhD focusing on burnout in GP registrars. Shaun has continued to conduct research in this area, specifically focusing on how to help doctors thrive and both prevent and manage burnout.

Authors: Dr Shaun Prentice, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners; Ms Divya Patel, University of Adelaide; A/Prof Diana Dorstyn, University of Adelaide

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: General Practitioners experience occupational stress, prompting increasing research to explore burnout prevention strategies. To date, few meta-analyses have evaluated intervention effects, and none have focused on trainees or junior doctors in family medicine or general practice (FM/GP). The current review addresses these research gaps.

Methods: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) were followed. Embase, Medline, PsycInfo and ProQuest were systematically searched (no date limits) for published studies and dissertations involving an intervention to manage burnout and/or improve well-being among FM/GP trainees. The reporting quality of included studies was reviewed (QualSyst tool), and pre-post changes (Hedges’ g, with associated 95% confidence intervals and p values) in perceived distress, burnout, and wellbeing examined.

Results: Eleven studies, comprising 182 trainees, were included. The quality of included studies was heterogenous, as were intervention, content, delivery, and length. The data did not favour a single type of intervention, although most reported positive results for training individuals in the detection of depression, stress, and burnout symptoms, as well as combating the stigma of seeking professional support.

Conclusions: There is a lack of evidence about the best ways to improve wellbeing in FM/GP trainees. Findings from controlled studies are promising but highlight a need for more rigorous research to confirm the value of a multi-pronged approach to address medical burnout.

Speaker
Dr Shaun Prentice

Burnout in postgraduate medical trainees before and during COVID – evidence from a meta-analysis of 245 cohorts

Speaker Bio: Dr Prentice is a researcher and registered psychologist. He is passionate about doctors’ health, with his PhD focusing on burnout in GP registrars. Shaun has continued to conduct research in this area, specifically focusing on how to help doctors thrive and both prevent and manage burnout.

Authors: Dr Shaun Prentice, RACGP; A.Prof Diana Dorstyn, University of Adelaide; Dr Nicola Massy-Westropp, Uni SA; A.Prof Jill Benson, University of Adelaide; Dr Taryn Elliott, RACGP

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Postgraduate medical trainees, including interns, residents and registrars, face elevated levels of burnout. The COVID-19 pandemic introduced considerable uncertainty to the medical landscape, potentially increasing burnout in this group. This review synthesised studies spanning the last 40 years that examined burnout amongst postgraduate medical trainees, and compared burnout levels before and during the pandemic.

Methods: Following protocol registration (PROSPERO CRD42023404618), the Embase, Medline, PsycInfo and the Cochrane library were searched in May 2023, with email alerts monitored until April 2025. Title/abstract and full-text screening identified studies administering the well-established Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) to postgraduate medical trainees. Study reporting quality was assessed (QualSyst tool) and individual study results compared with normative MBI data using a random effects model. Moderator analyses examined the potential role of medical specialty and country.

Results: 245 studies, spanning 48,698 trainees, were included. Trainees displayed significantly elevated burnout levels relative to MBI normative data, regardless of publication date. In particular, personal accomplishment, but also depersonalisation, levels were significantly lower during COVID, especially amongst surgical trainees. Burnout levels were higher in emergency medicine trainees during the pandemic compared to pre-COVID data. Pre- and intra-COVID differences in burnout levels were also associated with trainees’ country.

Conclusions: Burnout remains a major concern for trainees, with COVID appearing to specifically impact personal accomplishment. The results reinforce the need for holistic measurement of burnout. Specialty-based differences highlight centrality of context to harness the strengths across different areas of medicine and thereby design effective interventions.

Speaker
Dr Shaun Prentice

A comprehensive model for holistic doctors’ care – a program evaluation of one doctors’ health program

Speaker Bio: Shaun is a registered psychologist and researcher. He has been researching doctors’ health for over seven years and is particularly interested in burnout, wellbeing and values. He practises as a psychologist in Adelaide, with special interest in supporting doctors and healthcare professionals.

Authors: Dr Shaun Prentice, Prentice Psychology; Dr Roger Sexton, Doctors’ Health SA

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Doctors and medical students face a variety of barriers to accessing high quality healthcare, ranging from lack of time, to stigma in medical culture. Consequently, both services have been established both nationally and internationally to provide care specifically for doctors and medical students. However, there is limited published evaluations of the impacts of these services. This presentation aims to address this gap.

Methods: An evaluation of one doctors’ health program was undertaken. Guided by the COM-B model, routinely collected de-identified clinical, feedback and administrative data were analysed. Summary statistics were calculated to examine the demographics, clinical features and outcomes of patients accessing program services.

Results: The service’s model is unique in providing multiple clinical and educational services to doctors and medical students. The data showed that these act in concert to facilitate doctors’ engagement with high quality healthcare. Doctors spanning different career stages accessed the service, with most patients presenting with a physical health concern. The different services showed distinct patterns regarding patient profiles and presentations, and supported doctors to better manage their health. Over 40% of patient consults resulted in patients intending to more frequently engage with their regular GP.

Conclusions: The evaluated doctors’ health program effectively counters barriers that doctors face when prioritising their health by offering opportunities, building motivation and enhancing capability. The data reinforce the importance of a comprehensive, multifactorial program to maximise engagement and patient outcomes, and can serve as a model for other programs nationally and internationally.

Speaker
Dr Shaun Prentice

Associations between doctor-patients’ sociodemographic factors, health presentations and outcomes – an exploratory investigation

Speaker Bio: Shaun is a registered psychologist and researcher. He has been researching doctors’ health for over seven years and is particularly interested in burnout, wellbeing and values. He practises as a psychologist in Adelaide, with special interest in supporting doctors and healthcare professionals.

Authors: Dr Shaun Prentice, Prentice Psychology; Dr Roger Sexton, Doctors’ Health SA

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Doctors and medical students face various barriers to seeking healthcare. However, little is known about what happens when they do access healthcare. This exploratory study examined the associations between sociodemographic factors, health presentations and outcomes in doctors who seek healthcare.

Methods: De-identified patient data from one doctors’ health program were collated across the different services offered (in-person clinic, phone support line, rural outreach program, and direct contact with the Medical Director). Exploratory statistical analyses were used to identify associations between patient characteristics, their reasons for presenting, and clinical outcomes (e.g., receiving a referral, intent to engage with their regular GP).

Results: Data from 2,495 presentations to the program’s services between 2019 and 2025 were analysed. Males had much higher odds of presenting for medicolegal, financial or substance use concerns than females. Presentations also differed between types of doctors, for instance non-GP specialists being more likely to present for substance use concerns, while interns had higher rates of workplace and mental health presentations. Referral rates were not associated with sociodemographic characteristics, but more frequent in presentations including medicolegal or financial concerns. Where females were more likely to intend to increase their support network, males were more likely to have health risks managed in the consult. Older age was associated with greater odds of intending to make lifestyle changes.

Conclusions: These data describe into the profile of doctor-patients accessing healthcare. They suggest reasons for presenting are associated with sociodemographic factors. These insights may support clinical practices.

Speaker
Dr Shaun Prentice

Supporting doctors’ wellbeing – a practical model for the everyday

Speaker Bio: Dr Prentice is a researcher and registered psychologist. He is passionate about doctors’ health, with his PhD focusing on burnout in GP registrars. Shaun has continued to conduct research in this area, specifically focusing on how to help doctors thrive and both prevent and manage burnout.

Authors: Dr Shaun Prentice, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners; Dr Margaret Kay, University of Queensland; Dr Jill Benson, RACGP, University of Adelaide

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Meaningfulness is something we can all aspire to. Research is increasingly highlighting its importance in doctors’ wellbeing. However, meaningfulness can easily become lost in everyday life. In this presentation, we will describe a practical model for restructuring tasks to maximise meaningfulness.

Methods: This model is informed by findings from a breadth of research publications examining doctors’ health and the Job Demands-Resources Model.

Results: The Doctor’s Wellbeing Model encourages doctors to divide a task into its meaningfulness and its demands. The former can be considered through value fulfilment, while the latter concerns the physical, cognitive and emotional energy required. The impact of demands is further determined by another two factors. First is the psychosocial context, which ranges from individual psychological traits through to medical culture. The psychosocial lens may favourably or unfavourably influence how taxing the task is. Second are enablers, which comprises any factor external to the individual that can reduce the toll of the task (e.g., ability to delegate, condensed paperwork). The interactions between the task’s meaningfulness and demands within the context of psychosocial factors and enablers ultimately determines whether a given task contributes to, or detracts from, a doctor’s wellbeing.

Conclusions: This model highlights four points for modifying everyday tasks to maximise meaningfulness. It has broad applications, spanning individual doctors managing their workloads through to large organisations and regulators optimising processes. Ultimately, this model offers to reinvigorate the medical profession with a strong sense of meaningfulness.

Speaker
Dr Rikki Priest

Establishing Research Priorities for Doctors’ Health and Wellbeing in Australia and New Zealand: A Delphi Study

Speaker Bio: Dr Rikki Priest is a GP Obstetrician and Senior Lecturer at The University of Notre Dame Fremantle, working clinically in Spearwood and at King Edward Memorial Hospital. Rikki is a dynamic educator, speaker, and professional coach who delivers workshops on behaviour change and motivational interviewing. She is an advocate for doctors’ wellbeing and perinatal mental health, working with PANDA and the Doctors’ Health Advisory Service of WA. Her current research focuses on developing antenatal care plans in general practice to support families beyond birth. She loves cheese, hates running, and wishes it were the other way around.

Authors: Dr Rikki Priest, University of Notre Dame, Fremantle, Western Australia; Dr Margaret Kay, The University of Queensland; Dr Alexandra Muthu, Doctors Health Aotearoa New Zealand; Dr Helen Wilcox, Doctors’ Health Advisory Service of Western Australia; Dr Kathryn Hutt, Doctors’ Health NSW

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Doctors face unique professional and personal challenges that can adversely affect their health. Despite growing interest in clinician wellbeing, research efforts remain fragmented and national priorities underexplored. This study aims to establish consensus on key research priorities for doctors’ health across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.

Methods: We are using a modified Delphi methodology to gather expert input from 35 currently practising registered doctors with expertise in doctors’ health. Participants were selected for both their expertise and the diversity they bring to the group. In Round One, participants submitted free-text responses identifying current research priorities. These were thematically analysed and will be presented for rating and ranking in subsequent rounds. Australian and New Zealand data were analysed separately and then compared.

Results: Key themes included systemic workplace factors, outcome data for interventions, health needs for specific subgroups (e.g. rural and internationally trained doctors), doctors under investigation or undergoing career or life transitions, models of healthcare delivery to doctors, occupational health risks, and the need for national longitudinal health data. The process highlighted both shared and context-specific priorities: Australian responses emphasised evaluating existing wellbeing initiatives—reflecting a more mature intervention landscape—while New Zealand responses were shaped by themes of diversity, inclusion, and psychosocial models. Transitions in a medical career consistently emerged as critical pressure points warranting targeted research and support.

Conclusions: This study offers a consensus-based foundation to guide research into doctors’ health. The findings will provide a roadmap to address the real and pressing health needs of the medical workforce.

Speaker
Dr Louise Ramsay

Chocolate, Check-ins, and Clinical Psychologists: A Practical Framework for JMO Support

Speaker Bio: Louise Ramsay is a senior clinical psychologist with postgraduate training in family therapy and AHPRA Board endorsement as a clinical supervisor. In her role as Staff Psychologist for Junior Medical Officer wellbeing at Canberra Health Services, she works to support doctors by addressing the systemic and workplace factors that shape their experience. Drawing on a broad range of approaches and a strong commitment to contextual practice, Louise advocates for organisational environments that enable staff wellbeing.

Authors: Dr Marisa Magiros, ACT Drs4Drs, University of Canberra Medical and Counselling Centre, Canberra Health Services; Dr Kerrie Aust, President, AMA ACT, Chair Ethics and Medicolegal Committee, AMA Federal Member, AMA Federal Council Senior Clinical Lecturer, Australian National University School of Medicine and Psychology. DRS4DRS ACT Ochre Health Centre Garran RACGP Registrar Supervisor

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: This presentation outlines the initiatives of a state/territory-based doctors’ health service aimed at supporting local medical professionals’ wellbeing.

Methods: Over recent years, the service has expanded significantly. The on-call support team has grown, and 2–3 in-person educational events are now delivered annually for doctors and medical students. The service actively engages with universities, hospitals, and general practices to address current needs in the medical community. Educational content focuses on mental health and wellbeing, tailored to local demand. Each session also features a creative activity to foster connection and stress relief—past examples include African drumming, creative writing, painting, and even axe throwing. The on-call team maintains a curated list of GPs, psychiatrists, and psychologists open to caring for colleagues, as well as mentors. The team meets regularly and participates in continuing professional development (CPD) focused on health and wellbeing for medical professionals.

Results: Call volumes to the on-call team are steadily rising—a positive indicator of increased awareness and trust. Education sessions are consistently well-attended by a diverse group of participants across specialties and career stages. The format is intentionally flexible, allowing sessions to adapt to the group’s interests and needs. Informal interactions during meals help build strong professional connections.

Conclusions: We are proud of the growth and impact of our service and look forward to sharing our experiences, learning from others, and contributing to a more supportive culture in medicine.

Speaker
Dr Alison Robinson

Empowering People and Places: A Evidence-Informed, Staff-Driven Wellbeing Plan to Sustain and Strengthen Our Workforce

Speaker Bio: Alison is a Consultant in Emergency Medicine who trained in the UK and has lived and worked across the UK, Germany, and Australia. A passionate advocate for workforce wellbeing, Alison completed the Stanford Chief Wellness Officer course in 2023 and currently serves as the Director of Staff Wellbeing at Southern Adelaide Local Health Network (SALHN). Alison successfully led the implementation of Schwartz Rounds at SALHN, creating space for reflection and connection in healthcare teams. Committed to a collaborative and evidence-informed approach, Alison works to address broader system challenges that impact staff experience, wellbeing, and culture across the healthcare sector.

Authors: Dr Alison Robinson; Ms Emily Currie; Ms Martina Coffey-Greaney

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Currently Australian healthcare systems are facing projected staff shortages and increasing workforce demand. This project aimed to develop a comprehensive, evidence-informed Wellbeing Plan applicable to over 10,000 staff within a Local Health Network, shaped by staff engagement and aligned to new psychosocial Work Health and Safety (WHS) legislation. The resultant plan provides a three-year roadmap to support workforce sustainability and wellbeing.

Methods: A multi-method approach ensured broad, authentic engagement across the network: audit of current wellbeing practices against the Stanford Model of Professional Fulfilment© domains to identify strengths and gaps; expression of interest recruited 106 staff ambassadors passionate about wellbeing; 94 ambassadors remained active throughout the process, collectively engaging over 650 staff through local workshops to gather wellbeing concerns and ideas; network-wide wellbeing survey; forums across craft groups, divisions, and sites for in-depth discussion; executive and senior leadership workshops to ensure organisational alignment and commitment; drafted plan 3-week consultation period with both unions and all staff.

Results: The extensive consultation informed a detailed and clear Wellbeing Action Plan. A total of 57 actions are grouped under three meaningful pillars of wellbeing, ‘Being Well Body and Mind’, ‘Designing Work for Life’ and ‘Respect and Care for Ourselves and Each Other’.

Conclusions: This evidence informed, collaborative process fostered genuine staff engagement producing a Wellbeing Plan that will build capabilities, support fundamental needs and safety, and creates a roadmap to professional fulfilment. By empowering people, strengthening peer connections, and cultivating supportive environments, this plan will enhance culture, workforce sustainability, and improve patient care.

Speaker
Dr Alison Robinson

Embedding Schwartz Rounds: Fostering Reflection, Compassion, and Connection to Transform Culture in a Metro Hospital

Speaker Bio: Alison is a Consultant in Emergency Medicine who trained in the UK and has lived and worked across the UK, Germany, and Australia. A passionate advocate for workforce wellbeing, Alison completed the Stanford Chief Wellness Officer course in 2023 and currently serves as the Director of Staff Wellbeing at Southern Adelaide Local Health Network (SALHN). Alison successfully led the implementation of Schwartz Rounds at SALHN, creating space for reflection and connection in healthcare teams. Committed to a collaborative and evidence-informed approach, Alison works to address broader system challenges that impact staff experience, wellbeing, and culture across the healthcare sector.

Authors: Dr Alison Robinson; Dr Tamina Levy; Dr Carly Moores; Ms Anita Fenech; Ms Rianna McGlone

Structured Abstract

Background/Aims: Schwartz Rounds provide a structured, multidisciplinary forum for healthcare staff to reflect on the emotional and social aspects of their work, fostering empathy and connection. Introduced in June 2023 through collaboration between Emergency Medicine and Acute General Medicine, our hospital became the first in the state to adopt the program. Since inception, 20 Rounds have been held, expanding hospital-wide by September 2023. Themes have included “The Patient I Will Never Forget,” “The Colleague Who Made a Difference,” and “The Power of Teamwork.” This evaluation explores attendees’ experiences of how Schwartz Rounds have supported personal reflection, strengthened peer relationships, and contributed to a more connected workplace culture.

Methods: Attendees completed anonymous online evaluations using standardised questions from the Schwartz Center, alongside local demographic data.

Results: Approximately 2,680 staff have attended, with 1,355 valid evaluation responses. Feedback was highly positive: 97% would recommend Rounds to a colleague; 96% felt Rounds supported reflection on wellbeing; 96% reported a deeper understanding of colleagues’ experiences. Over half (52.5%) were repeat attendees, suggesting sustained engagement and cultural embedding.

Conclusion: Schwartz Rounds have strengthened peer connection and psychological safety in our busy clinical environment. Staff value this protected space to reflect, share, and reconnect with their purpose. Our experience highlights the role of Schwartz Rounds in fostering a compassionate, collaborative workplace culture, supporting people and peer relationships at the heart of high-performing teams.

Speaker
Dr Sarah Saunders

Admitted to Our Own Wards: How We Support Colleagues in Small Systems

Speaker Bio: Dr Sarah Saunders is a senior ACRRM registrar with advanced skills in obstetrics and gynaecology, based in the remote Northern Territory. Originally from the UK, she has worked across four continents and is a passionate advocate for rural healthcare and the voices of the marginalised and oppressed. With over 20 years of experience in voluntary roles, she combines clinical care with deep community engagement. A recognised leader in doctors’ mental health, she has spoken at national conferences and featured in a BBC documentary. Her published work also spans the creative arts, using storytelling to reflect on recovery, justice, and connection in medicine.

Author: Dr Sarah Saunders

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: This presentation shares a raw and uncensored account of a doctor’s experience of a burnout and mental health crisis in a rural setting. The aim is to break down stigma, open space for honest conversations about mental health in medicine, and explore how we can better support doctors in crisis.

Methods: This is a reflective personal case study, offering insight into what helped, what harmed, and what could be done differently—particularly in small, rural healthcare systems where anonymity is limited and roles easily blur.

Results: Key reflections are shared at both the personal and systems level. Solutions include low-cost, practical strategies such as pseudonyms on hospital whiteboards, privacy signage in theatre, and thoughtful rostering decisions. These simple interventions can protect dignity and support recovery. It highlights clear, actionable ways to foster a more supportive medical culture—one that responds with care, not stigma, when a colleague becomes a patient.

Conclusions: This presentation explores what it is like to be admitted to your own hospital—to be triaged in the emergency department you work in, treated in the ICU by familiar faces, and admitted into the mental health unit as a known colleague. This presentation speaks to those who may one day walk this path, and to the peers, managers, and systems who can make that journey more compassionate.

Speaker Prof Louise Stone

Sexual harassment between doctors: healing medical culture around the world

Speaker Bio: Louise Stone is a GP with clinical, research, teaching and policy expertise in mental health and doctors’ health. She is the lead editor of a multi-author, multi-disciplinary text: “Sexual harassment between doctors: healing medical culture across the world” which is to be published by Cambridge University Press late in 2025. She is a Professor in the rural clinical school at the University of Adelaide and practices in Canberra.

Author: Prof Louise Stone

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Sexual harassment is unfortunately a common experience in medicine, and occurs globally. Because the context and culture of medicine changes across the world, the way discrimination and harassment occurs and is managed also changes. Women and doctors living with intersectional disprivilege are at higher risk. Sexual harassment has deep personal and professional impacts, but stigma and shame often prevent survivors seeking care.

Methods: For the past decade, a team of authors from 23 countries have worked together to produce a text on this subject, exploring interdisciplinary and international research, theoretical frameworks, experiences and responses to this challenging problem. The text is to be published by Cambridge University Press late in 2025.

Results: In this session, we will present some of the core findings of this endeavour, with insights from Austria to Zambia. We explore perspectives from different disciplines: law, human rights, medical education, regulation, gender studies and psychotherapy and discuss how each of these disciplines have strengths and challenges in their capacity to manage such a pervasive and insidious problem.

Conclusions: This book offers a deep dive into a single profession, exploring the problem in a professional community who should take a leadership role in eliminating sexual harms. Context is everything when understanding cultural practices. This book explores a breadth of medical cultures, enabling readers to better understand their own contexts, and how they might respond to this challenging and hidden trauma within their profession.

Speaker
Ms Minky van der Walt

Transforming medical cultures through music, the arts and embodiment in therapeutic group supervision

Speaker Bio: Minky van der Walt (she/her) is a therapist, supervisor and professional trainer dedicated to supporting the wellbeing of health professionals. With over 25 years of clinical experience across medical, education and community sectors, she specialises in trauma-informed practice, creative and embodied supervision, and sustainable approaches to clinical work. Minky is the director of Tempo Therapy and Consulting, and an Accredited Mental Health Practitioner and Clinical Supervisor specialising in group and team supervision. Her work integrates music, the arts, somatics and neuroscience, informed by extensive experience in trauma-exposed workplaces, and a deep commitment to collective care in healthcare systems.

Author: Ms Minky van der Walt, Tempo Therapy and Consulting

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: With burnout and moral distress increasingly recognised as drivers of emotional exhaustion in medical workplaces, there is an urgent need to reframe how we support doctors working in complex, trauma-exposed systems. This presentation explores how creative arts, music and embodied approaches in group supervision can shift the focus from self-care to collective care, from isolation to collaboration, and from disconnection to reconnection: for the wellbeing of individual clinicians as well as team cultures.

Methods: Therapeutic group supervision sessions were designed around arts-based and body-focused practices, including guided music listening, drawing, creative writing, somatic resources, movement and collaborative process. These were delivered in a psychologically safe, trauma-informed environment that prioritised non-hierarchical, peer-based facilitation. The sessions supported clinicians to move through the stress response cycle by engaging with the nervous system, fostering creative expression and deepening relational awareness.

Results: Participants reported a renewed sense of connection to self and others, reduced emotional reactivity and increased clarity. Many reflected that the creative and embodied modalities enabled deeper insight and release than conventional verbal processing alone. The collaborative nature of the groups supported mutual regulation, reduced professional isolation, and enhanced a sense of collective responsibility for wellbeing and workplace culture.

Conclusions: Rehumanising medicine requires thinking outside the box. The arts have always offered new ways to make sense of our experiences. Creative, collaborative supervision in group or teams offer sustainable tools for regulation, reflection and clinical insight, promoting not only personal and professional wellbeing, but also the moral and cultural renewal of healthcare environments.

Speaker
Dr Ira van der Steenstraten

Growth beyond the Diagnosis: When Illness shapes the Healer

Speaker Bio: Dr Ira van der Steenstraten trained as a psychiatrist and psychotherapist in The Netherlands and now dedicates her work to professional coaching and leadership development, integrating psychological expertise with evidence-informed coaching to facilitate meaningful, sustainable change. She is the founder of Vitae Wellbeing & Leadership, a consultancy supporting medical professionals to lead with clarity, balance, and purpose. The award-winning “Wellbeing at Work” program, which she developed for the Australian Medical Association Queensland (AMAQ), has supported over 4,000 doctors in enhancing their wellbeing and workplace culture. She serves in executive roles with Doctors’ Health in Queensland and the Queensland Medical Women’s Society.

Author: Dr Ira van der Steenstraten, Vitae Wellbeing & Leadership

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Doctors with chronic health conditions are often viewed through a deficit lens, focusing on limitation or risk. Research into Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG) highlights how navigating adversity can lead to meaningful psychological development. This presentation explores PTG in the context of medical professionals, drawing on both academic literature and personal narrative. It aims to reframe lived experience of illness as a potential source of strength, enriching both clinical care and professional identity.

Methods: A narrative literature review was conducted examining key psychological studies on PTG, particularly in individuals with chronic illness and health professionals. Core domains of PTG were explored: appreciation of life, strengthened relationships, personal resilience, new possibilities, and existential or spiritual insight. These were examined through the lens of lived experience, including the personal journey of growing up with a rare bleeding disorder. This narrative has also been included in a published collection of lived experience stories exploring psychological adaptation and growth following adversity.

Results: Evidence supports PTG as a valid and measurable phenomenon. PTG may also emerge through sustained exposure to patient suffering, trauma, or moral distress. In medical professionals, personal or professional adversity, including chronic illness, may lead to greater empathy, improved patient connection, and stronger alignment with values.

Conclusions: Recognising PTG in healthcare professionals broadens the definition of strength in medicine. This lens supports a more inclusive and psychologically safe medical culture as it values complexity, lived experience, and the transformative potential of adversity.

Speaker
Dr Ira van der Steenstraten

Support that Fits: Coaching or Psychotherapy?

Speaker Bio: Dr Ira van der Steenstraten trained as a psychiatrist and psychotherapist in The Netherlands and now dedicates her work to professional coaching and leadership development, integrating psychological expertise with evidence-informed coaching to facilitate meaningful, sustainable change. She is the founder of Vitae Wellbeing & Leadership, a consultancy supporting medical professionals to lead with clarity, balance, and purpose. The award-winning “Wellbeing at Work” program, which she developed for the Australian Medical Association Queensland (AMAQ), has supported over 4,000 doctors in enhancing their wellbeing and workplace culture. She serves in executive roles with Doctors’ Health in Queensland and the Queensland Medical Women’s Society.

Author: Dr Ira van der Steenstraten, Vitae Wellbeing & Leadership

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: Psychological strain, including burnout, compassion fatigue, and moral distress, is increasingly prevalent among doctors. Not all individuals experiencing such challenges require psychotherapy. At the same time, coaching is becoming more accessible and socially acceptable, particularly in high-performance medical environments. However, coaching remains an unregulated field, with no consistent standards across definitions, expectations, or practices. This contributes to uncertainty about what coaching entails and when it is an appropriate intervention. As coaching is now recommended within the framework of “Every Doctor, Every Setting”, greater clarity is needed around who is best supported by coaching or psychotherapy.

Methods: A literature search (2015–2025) was undertaken to explore definitions, ethical boundaries, credentialing standards, and psychological readiness across coaching, psychotherapy, and hybrid models. The review focused on determining suitability for each modality based on presenting complaints and functional indicators.

Results: Although coaching and psychotherapy are theoretically distinct, their boundaries often blur in practice. Psychologically informed coaching approaches can further complicate referral decisions. Ultimately, the client’s psychological presentation, insight, and level of functioning should be more decisive than the modality itself.

Conclusions: The most reliable guide in choosing between coaching and therapy is not the method, but the client. Coaching is appropriate for doctors who are psychologically stable, functioning well, and motivated to take ownership of change. Need for psychotherapy includes acute distress, impaired functioning, lack of insight, and difficulty with boundaries. Promoting a strong, supportive and sustainable medical culture means matching doctors with the right kind of help at the right time.

Speaker
A/Prof Ashley Webb

Twenty-eight years of peer support for doctors facing alcohol and substance-use disorders

Speaker Bio: Associate Professor Webb leads the anaesthesia research program in the Department of Anaesthesia, Peninsula Health Melbourne. His research interest is smoking cessation before surgery. He has been in Recovery from alcohol and drug addiction for over 20-years.

Authors: A/Prof (Hon) Ashley Webb, School of Translational Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne. Department of Anaesthesia, Peninsula Health; Dr Jack Warhaft, (Retired) Former Medical Director, Victorian Doctors Health Program; A/Prof (Hon) Stephen Jurd, Macquarie University, Sydney. Director The Sydney Retreat, Stanmore NSW

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: To describe the origins, development, and ongoing role of Australian Doctors in Recovery (ADR)—a peer-support program for Australian medical practitioners with alcohol or substance use disorders.

Methods: Analysis of 28 years of ADR conference programs and meeting minutes.

Results: In July 1996, two Australian doctors met at a Californian hotel while attending a drug/alcohol convention. Both were in long-term recovery from addictions and recognised the need for a peer-support network tailored to Australian medical professionals. They envisioned a safe, supportive space where doctors struggling with substance use could find connection with others having similar experiences. That vision materialised with the inaugural meeting of ADR, held in Sydney (November 2–3, 1996). For the first time, Australian doctors had a dedicated forum to openly discuss the personal, professional, and familial impacts of addiction in a non-judgmental and confidential environment, fostering healing, recovery, and a substance-free life. Since then, ADR’s annual gatherings have taken place in diverse and inspiring settings—from the Butterfly House at Melbourne Zoo to the beaches of Maroochydore, a reef boat in Cairns, and harbourside Auckland. Today, ADR offers a range of support options: three weekly Zoom recovery meetings, an annual in-person Recovery Weekend, and an Academic Day open to all medical professionals, for continuing education in addiction medicine and recovery.

Conclusions: Over its 28-year history, ADR has supported hundreds of doctors through peer connection, education, and fellowship, playing a vital role in helping members reclaim their lives from alcohol and drug dependence.

Speaker
Ms Cheryl Wile

The value of a support group for medical professionals with substance use disorders

Speaker Bio: Cheryl is a psychologist who has worked at the Victorian Doctors Health Program for 24 years. Since commencing with the program she has been involved in overseeing the weekly support group it offers to doctors with substance use disorders – the Caduceus Group. She is very passionate about this group and would love to see it offered elsewhere in Australia and beyond. Cheryl also works in private practice. When she’s not working she’s a very slow jogger, an amateur saxophone player and passionate about animal rights.

Authors: Ms Cheryl Wile, Psychologist – Victorian Doctors Health Program; Dr Patrick Johnson, Medical Director, Victorian Doctors Health Program

Structured Abstract

Background/Aim: The Victorian Doctors Health Program (VDHP) is the only doctor’s health program in Australia with this type of support group. The approach of this study was to hear directly from the doctor-participants regarding their experience of the group and benefits for them as medical practitioners. The aim is to share these findings with the broader medical community and to consider the value and scalability of such a program.

Methods: Current and former doctor-patients who volunteered to be involved were surveyed anonymously regarding their attitudes to the group, its role in their recovery, and how their attendance contributed to their ongoing ability to work in the medical profession. The study aimed at being a ‘snapshot’ of some key areas rather than exhaustive. This was to respect the sensitive nature of the group and to not intrude unnecessarily in the ongoing supportive group work.

Results: Respondents overwhelmingly valued the support group and saw it as an essential part of their recovery. Nearly all respondents considered that attending Caduceus contributed to their ability to continue working as doctors.

Conclusions: Having a peer support group for doctors with substance use issues results in healthier doctors, better patient care and healthier communities. It is recommended that similar groups be made available in jurisdictions other than Victoria, Australia.