The Council develops
policies and submissions on issues of concern to the medical
profession and is the governing body of the AMA(SA). Members
of Council provide direction and advice to the President
and Chief Executive Officer as well as being the peak policy
making body of the AMA(SA)
(click on following
links to take you to each group)
Office bearers
Craft Group Representatives
Ordinary members
Regional members
Medical Student
Representatives
Committee Members Bios
AMA(SA)
Council Membership
Office Bearers

President
Dr Peter Ford
president@amasa.org.au
Vice President
Dr Andrew Lavender
vicepresident@amasa.org.au
Honorary Treasurer
Dr Peter Sharley
treasurer@amasa.org.au
Honorary Medical Secretary
Dr David Thomas
homed@amasa.org.au
Federal Councillors
Dr Peter Ford
Dr Rodney Pearce
Dr William Heddle
Dr David Thomas


Craft Group Representatives

Surgeons
Dr David Walsh
surgeonsrep@amasa.org.au
Pathologists
Dr David Evans
pathologistsrep@amasa.org.au
Anaesthetists
Dr Mary-Ann Fox
anaesthetistsrep@amasa.org.au
Doctors in Training
Dr Selma Torronen
ditrep@amasa.org.au
General Practitioners
Dr Robert Wight
gprep@amasa.org.au
Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Dr Stephen Lane
oandgrep@amasa.org.au
Physicians
Dr Roger Hunt
physiciansrep@amasa.org.au
Psychiatrists
Dr Ken Fielke
psychiatristsrep@amasa.org.au
Radiologists
Dr Brian Donnelley
radiologistsrep@amasa.org.au
Women in Medicine
Dr Janice Fletcher
womensrep@amasa.org.au
Salaried Medical Officers
Dr David Thomas
salariedmedicalofficersrep@amasa.org.au


Ordinary Members

Ordinary Member
Dr Johnathan Sporne
Ordinary Member
Dr Michael Rice
Ordinary Member
Dr Rod Pearce
Ordinary Member -
Dr Joseph Przybylko


Regional Members

Northern Region
Dr Nigel Stewart
northernrep@amasa.org.au
Riverland Region
Dr Roger Sexton
riverlandrep@amasa.org.au
South Eastern Region
To be advised
southeastrep@amasa.org.au
Western Region
Dr Sue Baillie
westernrep@amasa.org.au


Medical Student Representatives

Adelaide Medical Students
Mr Rick Fielke
adelaiderep@amasa.org.au
Flinders Medical Students
Mr Shehnarz Salindera
flindersrep@amasa.org.au


Council Members' Bios

Sue Baillie
MB BS Hons, Dip. RCOG, FACRRM, Dip. Health Economics
AMA(SA) Council Regional
Representative – Western Region
Dr Sue Baillie is a rural practitioner
who has been practising on the Eyre Peninsula since 1986.
Her special interests include obstetrics and women’s
health, procedural general practice and teaching medical
students.
She currently works part-time for
the Spencer Gulf Rural Health School as a clinical lecturer.
She has held voluntary positions on the hospital Boards
at both Cleve and Port Lincoln and has worked as the ‘principal
medical officer’ of the Port Lincoln Hospital and
Health Services. Having worked in both small and large practices,
full-time and part-time over the years, she is in an excellent
position to understand the issues facing both rural practice
and general practice.
Dr Baillie loves medicine for the
fact that it involves life-long learning, and she also welcomes
the interactions her work involves with patients and their
families during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum
period, which create a very special relationship which she
finds a privilege to have. Outside of medicine, she loves
to paint and be creative, but finds it hard to find the
time, and she also enjoys keeping fit.
Ken Fielke
MB BS, FRANZCP, FRACGP, Dip. RCOG, Dip. Hypnotherapy
AMA(SA) Craft Group Representative for Psychiatrists
After graduating in 1983 from the
University of Adelaide, Ken served for four years in the
regular Army before venturing into full time general practice
for seven years. He subsequently specialized in psychiatry
and is a member of both the Colleges. This dual background
has enabled him to focus on developing models for the delivery
of specialized psychiatric services in primary care using
a consultation - liaison approach.
Ken is currently the clinical director
of Country Mental Health and was previously the clinical
director of the Rural and Remote Mental Health Services
(RRMH). He is committed to the provision of psychiatric
care to the under-serviced and under-resourced areas of
Country SA. He conducts private psychiatric outreach clinics
in the Riverland, Victor Harbor, Mount Barker, Ceduna, Yalata
and Oak Valley.
His other major interest is indigenous
mental health and has been a driving force behind the development
of an ‘Indigenous team’ at RRMH which aims to
make stream services more sensitive and relevant to patients
from an Indigenous background.
Ken was recently a Reference Group
member with the Social Inclusion Board in preparing the
‘Stepping up’ report. He is a passionate advocate
for leadership by psychiatrists in transforming the SA mental
health system.
Rick Fielke
AMA(SA) Council Student Representative
– University of Adelaide
Rick Fielke is currently studying
medicine at the University of Adelaide, which he commenced
in 2003, after taking a year off study after high school,
during which time he worked in the operating suite at Wakefield
Hospital. He is also currently studying part-time for a
diploma of theology at the Australian Lutheran College.
He is particularly interested in surgery, psychiatry and
indigenous health, and is attracted to the balance of the
challenges found in medicine and the variability in practice
which allows medical practitioners to pursue their specific
interests while contributing to the community. Some of the
issues that particularly concern him are those around the
provision of adequate clinical teaching to students and
young doctors, particularly with increased student numbers,
and the impact this has on the future workforce.
In his life outside study, Rick is undertaking a Duke of
Edinburgh Award, and is also a keen bush walker and hiker,
often disappearing during the holidays to various part of
the bush. He also loves Aussie Rules football and cricket.
Janice Fletcher
MB, BS (Hons), FRACP, MD, BSc, Clinical Genetics (HGSA),
Biochemical Genetics
HGSA), FRCPA (genetics)
AMA(SA) Council Representative
for Women in Medicine
After a career in paediatrics and genetics working in inborn
errors of metabolism, Dr Janice FLetcher has moved her focus
to administration and genetic pathology.
She trained primarily in Sydney, at the Prince of Wales
Children's Hospital and Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children,
and was a genetics fellow at the Murdoch Institute, Royal
Children's Hospital Melbourne, where she obtained her MD.
Dr Fletcher was the Head of the Metabolic
Unit at the Women's and Children's Hospital from 1995 to
2008. In 1996, she set up Australia's first adult metabolic
clinic at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, with Dr Ian Chapman.
In 2001 she was appointed Acting Head of Chemical Pathology
at the Women's and Children's Hospital and, in 2003, Deputy
Director of Genetic Medicine at the Women's and Children's
Hospital. In 2008 she was appointed as Regional Medical
Director of the Children's Youth and Women's Health Service.
She has been on the National Examining
Panel for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians since
2004, and is the President of the Australasian Society for
Inborn Errors of Metabolism and the corresponding member
for the Australia for the Society for Study of Inborn Errors
of Metabolism.
Her particular interests include
newborn screening, quality outcomes in inborn errors of
metabolism, safety and quality, postgraduate medical training,
and the interface between the laboratory and the clinician.
Her passions outside of medicine include golf, travel and
cooking.
Peter Ford
MB BS, Dip. RACOG, FRACGP, RDA
President, Australian Medical
Association (South Australia)
After three years of post-graduate
hospital training Dr Ford entered private general practice
in the Tea Tree Gully area, and he has now been in general
practice for over 25 years. He is a Clinical Lecturer with
the University of Adelaide and a Clinical Examiner with
the RACGP.
Dr Ford has been awarded the Dr Brian
Butcher Award for Service to General Practice, having been
a former Chairman of the Division, and also a Manager of
Aged Care Programmes. His professional interests include
the AMA, support for general practice through the Divisions,
and supporting medical student and post graduate general
practice training.
As a doctor, he enjoys being able
to apply a knowledge of medicine in association with patients
and their families, and also finds satisfaction in being
able to connect people with components of the medical system
which they may find daunting.
His concerns include the ability
of the medical profession to adequately service the wider
community, care for the disabled, and the importance of
ethical conduct in medical practice, not only in relation
toachieving the highest standards, but also in perpetuating
and enhancing education and communication at all levels.
Mary-Ann Fox
BM BS, FANZCA, MA
AMA(SA) Council Craft Group Representative
for Anaesthetists
Dr Mary-Ann Fox graduated from Flinders
University in 1987 and pursued her interest in anaesthesia
immediately, following the Adelaide rotation through all
the major hospitals and being appointed the youngest consultant
in the Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care in 1995.
Her professional interests have been
in consent, and she has made an information video on this
area. She has also been involved in the Australian Incident
Monitoring Study, and published many articles regarding
incidents in regional anaesthesia. She also contributed
to the Crisis Management Manual published by this group.
Her current interests include perioperative
assessment and management of the high risk patient. She
enjoys the many challenges of anaesthesia, particularly
the increasingly complicated patient population.
She believes the AMA is the broadest
and most prolific supporter of our profession and appreciates
being able to understand the challenges faced by her colleagues
outside the cocoon of the operating theatre.
Bill Heddle
MB BS, MD, FRACP, FSCANZ,
FAMA
Federal Councillor
Bill Heddle is a cardiologist who divides his time between
public work as a part-time Senior Consultant at Flinders
Medical Centre and private practice in Cardiology. He is
also a visiting cardiologist to regional areas including
the Riverland, Victor Harbor, and Mt Gambier.
He has keen interest in research and teaching (undergraduate
[currently Co-cordinator of Year 3 Graduate Entry Medical
Program (GEMP) Flinders University of South Australia] and
postgraduate) and is widely cited in many publications,
as well as being an active military reservsit and an active
member of many professional societies.
He is Chair of the AMA(SA) Road Safety Committee, an elected
member of the State Committee of the Royal Australasian
College of Physicians (SA Branch), a Fellow of the Cardiac
Society of Australia and New Zealand, a member of the Heart
Rhythm Society. Dr. Heddle has been an AMA member since
1972, and has been the AMA(SA) Craft Group Representative
for Physicians, AMA (SA) Vice-President 2002-3, AMA(SA)
President (2003-2005). He is currently Federal Vice-President
of the Australian Association of Consultant Physicians (AACP).
His interests outside of medicine
include music, gardening, fishing, downhill skiing and farming,
and within medicine, issues he feels strongly about include
the importance of teaching and research in all areas of
medicine, the importance of road safety, and support for
rural general practitioners.
Roger Hunt
BM BS, GDPH, FAChPM, MD
AMA(SA) Craft Group Representative
for Physicians
Dr Roger Hunt pioneered palliative medicine in southern
Adelaide (1984-2003), and is a Foundation Fellow of the
Australasian Chapter of Palliative Medicine. He has a Doctorate
of Medicine (by published work) in investigating patterns
of terminal care in South Australia, and is widely published,
in both professional and public media, on clinical developments
in end-of-life care and ethical issues, including euthanasia.
He is particularly interested in the provision of patient-focussed
palliative services, ethics, teaching and research, and
he is currently Director of Western Adelaide Palliative
Care and Clinical Leader of Respecting Patient Choices Program
at TQEH.
The thing he enjoys most about being a doctor is helping
people in need and being appreciated for it, and he feels
strongly about the need to be practical in medicine, to
minimise harm and to make healthy choices the easy choices.
His interests outside of medicine include music composition
and recording, visual art and sport.
Andrew Lavender
MB BS, FRCA, FFARCS
AMA(SA) Vice-President
Dr Andrew Lavender is the vice-president of the AMA(SA)
and is also the regional representative for SA/NT on the
federaql AMA council. He has worked as a staff anaesthetist
at the Royaql Adelaide Hospital (RAH) since 1995, when he
returned to Adelaide after nine years living and working
in the UK and Ireland, and has a special interest in cardiac
and neurosurgical anaesthesia. He is currently deputy director
of anaesthesia at the RAH.
Dr Lavender has been involved actively
in the affairs of the AMA(SA) over an extended period, having
served on the AMA(SA) Council over a number of years. During
this time he has been involved with several rounds of enterpriose
bargaining negotiations in SA, and he is a strong advocate
for public sector doctors and the patients they care for.
Rodney Pearce
MB BS, FAMA
AMA(SA)Council – Federal
Councillor
Dr Rod Pearce has studied in Adelaide
and worked at the RAH, TQEH and Modbury hospitals before
starting work in his current city practice. He has worked
in rural areas of South Australia and continues to work
in medical politics to enhance the opportunities for better
patient care.
Dr Pearce is on the board of the
Influenza Specialiswt Group, AGPAL/QIP, the Adelaide Central
and Eastern Division of General Practice, and TRACsa. As
a member of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation,
he has a national interest in immunisation. He
also chairs the National General Practice Supervisors Association,
and is keenly interested in educating the next generation
of doctors.
Patient empowerment is a key issue
for Dr Pearce, and he finds great satisfaction in helping
people stay well, as well as the insights that working with
his patients provides. He believes
that the medical profession is given a privileged position
in the community and that it is vital that the profession
responds to this and keeps the respect of the community
and the confidence of patients.
Dr Joe Przybylko
MB BS (Adelaide)
AMA(SA) Counvil - Ordinary
Member
Dr Joe Przybylke is a family GP with
a focus on lifestyle and prevention. He has a special interests
in diabetes, mental health and medical education, and views
socially responsive and responsible general practice as
the cornerstone of health care delivery, in which big health
care dollar savings can be made or wasted.
Dr Przybylke
believes that health economics and social and community
medicine need to be taught in the undergraduate medical
courses and that the notion of responsible and sustainable
“consumerism” of health care services needs
to be a strong focus of government policy and public education.
He is
58 years old, is married to Roslyn and has three adult children,
two of whom have committed to the “craft” of
medicine.
Dr Przybylko has been in general
practice for the past 20 years, having been a farmer, electrician
and an engineer in his “former life”.
Michael Rice
MB BS, FRACP
AMA(SA) Councillor – Ordinary Member
Dr Michael Rice has been a consultant
paediatrician in private and public hospital practice in
Adelaide since 1967. He has
been awarded the Howard Williams Medal (Australian College
of Paediatrics), the Medal of the Royal Australasian College
of Physicians, the Centenary Medal and the AMA Gold Medal,
and has been made a Fellow of the Australian Medical Association
and a Member of the Order of Australia.
He has also been highly active on
a number of committees, including the Medical School Curriculum
Committee at the University of Adelaide and the Royal Australasian
College of Physicians Committee for Examinations, and has
been a member of the RACP Council and the AMA Federal Council,
and was the inaugural Chairman of the AMA Child and Youth
Health Committee and president of the AMA(SA) (2000-2002).
He is also currently Chairman of the South Australian Clinical
Senate.
Dr Rice has an ongoing interest in
the problems associated with children with cancer, child
advocacy and, more recently, the new public health problems
facing children and families. His
interests outside of medicine include sport, travel, reading,
wine and watching the achievements of his children and grandchildren.
Shehnarz Salindera
AMA(SA) Council Student Representative
– University of Adelaide
Shehnarz is in her third year of
study in the Flinders University graduate entry medical
program. Her previous study includes B. Molecular Biotechnology
and also a Masters Health Law from the University of Sydney.
She is currently undertaking her third-year studies in the
Riverland as part of the Flinders Parallel Rural Community
Curriculum because of her commitment to working as a rural
doctor in the future. The Riverland program provides a great
opportunity to have a very 'hands on' clinical experience
in a range of areas including emergency medicine, surgery
and general practice, and also exposes students to the benefits
of rural life.
Areas of medical specialty that interest
her include general practice, general surgery and cardiology.
She is particularly passionate about issues of medical education
and training opportunities for medical students in our already
overloaded health system, support for women in medicine,
and also about improving health care in rural areas. Her
interests outside of medicine include travel, fashion and
sailing and so naturally her favourite holiday destinations
are places that combine all three of her hobbies such as
Singapore and the Mediterranean.
Roger Sexton
MB BS, DRCOG, FRACGP, FACCRM
AMA(SA) Council Regional
Representative – Riverland Region
After growing up in country South
Australia, Dr Sexton studied for his medical degree at the
University of Adelaide.
After internship at the QEH in 1978, he then studied obstetrics
and gynaecology in the West Midlands in the UK before returning
to Adelaide to study paediatrics and anaesthetics, in preparation
for his future work in rural general practice at Mt Pleasant
and Birdwood, where he has served the local communities
for 27 years.
In addition to his full -time work
with patients, he also coordinated GP training at the Queen
Elizabeth Hospital for five years and organised the GP Education
Week. Roger has a keen interest in doctors’ health
and managed the innovative Dr DOC Program for rural GPs
across South Australia for five years to 2006. The opportunity
to make a positive difference drew him to become a member
of the Medical Board of South Australia in 2006 and AMA(SA)
council member in 2008. He is married with two teenage children,
enjoys music performance and runs a small rural sheep property
near Birdwood.
Peter Sharley OAM
MBBS, Dip Obs RACOG, PG Dip Av Med, PG Cert AME, Dip Bus
Mgt,
FANZCA, FJFICM
AMA(SA) Treasurer
After graduating from the University
of Adelaide Dr Sharley completed terms in obstetrics and
rural general practice. He commenced specialist training
in anaesthesia and subsequently intensive care medicine,
commencing as a specialist at the RAH in 1993.
He has spent a great deal of his
professional life providing critical care services to rural
South Australia 24/7. The introduction of critical care
telemedicine to the rural sector and improvement in the
state systems that support rural doctors have been long
term rewarding projects.
Dr Sharley is currently Deputy Director
of the Royal Adelaide Hospital Intensive Care Unit. He is
also a Specialist Medical Officer for Careflight NSW, a
Visiting Intensivist at Memorial, Calvary and Alice Springs
Hospitals, and is active on the
Adelaide University Sports Blues Committee. Previous
professional postings include: Assistant Professor in Anesthesiology
at the University of California, Davis Medical Centre, California
USA and Director, Royal Adelaide Hospital “Mediflight”
Critical Care Retrieval Service. 2002-2007.
David G Thomas
MB BS, FRACGP, MD, M. Ed
AMA(SA) Council – Federal
Councillor
Dr David Thomas studied medicine
at the University of Adelaide, winning both the Elder Prize
and Sir Trent Champion de Crespigny Prize, and going on
to gain fellowship of the Royal Australian College of Physicians
and completing an MD and M. Ed at Flinders University.
A consultant paediatric physician,
Dr Thomas has expertise in general paediatrics, and wide
experiemce in tertiary and metropolitan hospitals, community
and rural settings. His particular interests include nutrition,
child obesity, child development and behaviour, and diabetes,
and he has an ongoing research interest in learning styles
in medical education and factors influencing motivation
and work satisfaction.
He is currently director of paediatric
physician training and senior consultant in paediatric medicine
at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital. He is
also a senior lecturure in paediatrics for the University
of Adelaide, a visiting paediatrician for South Australia’s
Riverland region, and co-director or the Women’s and
Children’s Hospital Centre for Continuing Education.
Selma Torronen
MB BS
AMA(SA) Council – Doctors
in Training Representative
Selma Torronen is a graduate of the University of Adelaide.
Originally from Canberra, she found South Australia a warm
and welcoming environment during her medical degree. She
spent her fifth year of medical school training in Whyalla
and developed a taste for rural medicine. An elective in
Kompaim, a small village in Papua New Guinea helped to cement
her interest in paediatric and community health. She completed
her intern year at Flinders Medical Centre in 2007 and is
currently undertaking her first year of paediatric training
at Flinders Medical Centre with a view to becoming a general
paediatrician. She is interested in undertaking rural paediatric
practice.
After attending AMA(SA) Doctor’s
in Training (DiT) Committee meetings with other trainee
doctors who were keen to work towards improved training
and education, she decided to nominate for the chair position.
During her training, she would like to undertake a diploma
of education and spend some of her training educating others.
She is passionate about DiT issues concerning intern training
and education, increasing educational opportunities for
doctors in training and working towards reducing barriers
to DiT educational opportunities.
Outside of medicine, she enjoys ballroom
dancing, surfing, soccer, reading, cooking, music and spending
time with friends.
David Walsh
MB BS, FRACS
AMA(SA) Council Craft Group
Representative for Surgeons
Dr David Walsh is a general surgeon
with strong interest in breast, endocrine and surgical oncology
and, in particular, familial breast cancer and high risk
breast cancer families. He has published on Diagnosis of
Breast Cancer Micrometastases in peripheral blood and Laparoscopic
Oophorectomy in Breast Surgery.
Dr Walsh is the Head of the Breast
Endocrine Surgical Unit at TQEH and Senior Lecturer in Breast
Endocrine Surgery at the University of Adelaide, and is
a former Chair of the South Australian Regional Board of
the College of Surgeons.
His interests outside of medicine
include tennis, running and the Sturt Football Club, and
the thing he enjoys most about being a doctor is trying
to live up to the trust that patients have in their doctors.
Robert Wight
MB, BS, FRACGP, DPH, M.Sc (Ex Physiol)
Chair AMA(SA) CGP Committee and on Executive of National
AMACGP Committee
AMA(SA) Council Member Craft Group Representative
Dr Wight graduated from the University of Adelaide in 1963.
He spent four years as Medical Superintendent at the Pit
River Hospital in Papua, Indonesia; worked with the National
Trachoma & Eye Health Programme with Fred Hollows in
Central Australia; held the position of Chairman of the
Board of Directors of Southern Domiciliary Care now Metropolitan
Domiciliary Care for 20 years and Chair of SDGP for six
years.
He has been a Senior Clinical Lecturer
at both Adelaide and Flinders Universities; a consultant
for Rotary International in Bangladesh and the Department
of Foreign Affairs in Burma and for World Vision in Indonesia.
He received the Paul Harris Fellowship Award for service
to third world countries.
Dr Wight has been in practice at
Christies Beach for 29 years and is a life member of the
RACGP. He presented a research paper in Denver, Colorado
on Exercise Physiology which was published in the European
Journal of Applied Physiology. He has been lecturing to
the community on Lifestyle Planning for almost 30 years.
He is passionate about general practice
in both urban and rural areas and feels GPs are critical
to the health care of Australia and need to be appropriately
funded and supported. He enjoys teaching and encouraging
medical students and received a Teacher of the Year Award
from Flinders University in 2006. HIs interests
outside of medicine include concert piano, canoe racing,
swimming and golf.

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