I have had the pleasure and privilege of launching the book Women to the Front, by Dr Heather Sheard and Dr Ruth Lee, to a packed audience in St David’s Hall of the Welsh church in La Trobe Street, Melbourne.
St David’s Hall was once used by Constance Stone and the Melbourne group of women doctors, to run a dispensary and community clinic for women. This was the foundation of the Queen Victoria Hospital.
Of the twenty-six Australian women doctors who served in WWI, there are six Melbourne women who are commemorated in the WWI plaque outside the church. I was intrigued by the story of Dr Helen Sexton, who was in England at the time the war started, nearly 20 years after her graduation. She offered her services to the War Office and was rejected, as were the other women doctors from Australia and England. Undeterred, she boarded the next boat back to Melbourne at her own expense, intent on recruiting other medical women, raising funds and amassing supplies to take back with her. After a successful four-month effort in Melbourne, she and her small team of doctors and nurses returned and started the first ever Australian Hospital in Paris, France. This is one of the truly inspirational stories that has been captured in this important book. Had Dr Sheard and Dr Lee not committed their time to this effort, the amazing lives of these women would have been forgotten entirely. History without the stories and achievements of women, leaves all of society impoverished. There is a great need to acknowledge the effort and importance of our elders of the past, as they inspire us in the present and their courageous footprints, pave our path into the future.
At the close of the book launch, I was approached by the daughter of a female doctor, now aged 92 years old. She had never been a member of VMWS but has had a rich, pioneering professional life. We exchanged details and our archivist Anne Stanaway has already interviewed her. We will share this with you in due course.
Another milestone event I attended, was the launch of The Royal Women’s Hospital book at the Melbourne Medical History Museum on the 15th of April. The book is titled, The Women’s: Carers, Advocates and Reformers. Several other VMWS members joined the enthusiastic audience and enjoyed the speeches given by RWH Chairwoman Lynne Swinburne AM and the dean of the faculty of Melbourne Medical School.
Our annual CV writing/interview skills workshop, entitled How to Write a Stellar CV and Ace Your Interview was hosted at the Melbourne Multicultural Hub on the 18th of May. It was a sold-out event and the 6 panelists offered splendid insights into CV writing and how to give a confident and sincere interview. We received excellent reviews and several who attended had actually been to other events along a similar theme, but stated that this was the most valuable session they had been to. Thank you to our wonderful 6 panelists, Dr Caroline Johnson, Dr Kelly Champane, Associate Professor Louisa Ng, Dr Rachel Coutts, Dr Anna Dunn and Dr Christina Murphy who generously gave their time and shared their insights.
Another exciting event that I attended was the AMA National Conference held in Brisbane, from the 24/5 -26/5/2019. I attended as a fully sponsored GP Delegate and found the conference inspiring and very productive. Congratulations to our own Dr Jill Tomlinson, who at the recent AMA Victoria AGM, was announced as board member and finance director. In fact, congratulations to all those at AMA who voted and ratified that AMA boards should have an equal 40% of each gender. This is a first for Australian boards and we should be proud that a medical association has taken the first step in this positive and fair direction.
Some further exciting news on my part is that I have been announced the incoming Australian Federation of Medical Women (AFMW) National Coordinator for the Medical Women’s International Association (MWIA), with the handover occurring at the MWIA Conference in July in New York. Congratulations to our secretary Madhura Naidu who is one of two successful candidates to be granted an AFMW scholarship to attend the MWIA Centennial Conference in July.
Finally, our next social event is our COCO gathering which will be on Friday, June 28th, 4-8pm at Smith & Singleton (48 Flemington Rd, Parkville VIC 3052). I look forward to seeing you there.
