Medical Board of Australia Members

Dr Susan O'Dwyer (Chair)

Practitioner Member, Queensland

Qualifications:

• MBBS, MPH, FRACMA

Dr Susan O'Dwyer is Chair of the Medical Board of Australia and Chair of the Board’s Specialist International Medical Graduate Pathways Review Advisory Committee and Steering Committee. She was first appointed to the National Board in 2016 and prior to this was Chair of the Queensland Board of the Medical Board of Australia.

Dr O’Dwyer is the Executive Director, Medical Services at Metro South Health, one of Brisbane’s major providers of public health services and is a Censor with the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators. She has worked in medical administration roles at various facilities across Queensland for more than 20 years with responsibilities for medical workforce, education and training.

Dr O’Dwyer has a long-standing involvement with the Australian Medical Council, including accreditation activities for IMG, prevocational accreditation and specialist college accreditation.

In 2018, Dr O’Dwyer was awarded the RACMA Distinguished Fellow Award for her excellence in leadership and significant contribution to medical regulation in Australia and improving education and training for junior doctors, including developing the flagship program Registration, Assessment, Placement, Training for international medical graduates in Queensland.

Ms Christine Gee AM

Community Member, Queensland

Qualifications:

• MBA

Christine Gee is Chair of the Medical Board of Australia’s National Special Issues Committee (Sexual Boundaries and Family Violence) which is the delegated committee responsible for regulatory decisions for matters relating to sexual boundary violations and family violence. She is also a community member of the Queensland Board of the Medical Board of Australia, a position she has held since 2014.

Christine is the Chief Executive Officer of Toowong Private Hospital and has appointments on a number of other local, state and national boards. She is the National President of the Australian Private Hospitals Association and a Board member of the Australian Commission for Safety and Quality in Health Care.

In 2023, Christine was appointed as a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia for significant service to the community, particularly through hospital administration. Christine’s personal philosophy puts patients at the centre of care, and both acknowledges and values the power of lived experience in the planning, design, delivery, measurement and evaluation of care.

Dr Daniel Heredia

Practitioner Member, Western Australia

Qualifications:

• MBBS (Hons), MBA (Distinction), Dip. Public Health, GAICD, FRACMA, FCHSM

Dr Daniel Heredia is a practitioner member of the Medical Board of Australia and has over 15 years of experience in medical regulation. Prior to joining the National Board, he served as a practitioner member on the Western Australian Board of the Medical Board of Australia and chaired the Registration Committee.

Dr Heredia is a specialist medical administrator who works as the Group Executive - Insurance and Health Services at HBF Health. As part of this role, Daniel oversees HBF’s clinical businesses which include HBF Dental, HBF Physio and the Life Ready Health Group.

Prior to this, Daniel was the Deputy CEO and Medical Director at Hollywood Private Hospital, one of the largest private hospitals in Australia. He was also involved in leading the WA COVID-19 response as the Deputy Chief Executive COVID-19 Health Operations and has previously worked as a Medical Advisor to Medicare Australia.

Dr Heredia has served as a Board Member of the WA Country Health Service (where he also chaired the Safety and Quality Board Subcommittee), a Board Member of Private Healthcare Australia, a Councillor with the Australian Medical Association (WA) and the Postgraduate Medical Council of WA, and as an Honorary Clinical Consultant with The University of Western Australia.

Ms Eileen Jerga AM

Community Member, Australian Capital Territory

Qualifications:

• BA, MBA and GAICD

Eileen Jerga has been a community member of the Medical Board of Australia since 2018 having held executive roles in health administration and health promotion for more than 20 years.

Eileen is an experienced consumer advocate and was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia in 1996 for her contribution to social welfare and advocacy.

She was CEO of the National Heart Foundation ACT for seven years, has been National Marketing Manager for Diabetes Australia and President and Vice President of the Stroke Association.

Ms Jerga has served as a community member of the ACT Nursing and Midwifery Board and the ACT Veterinary Surgeons Board and as a Community Director of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council and a Consumer member of the Australian Medical Council.

She is a consumer member of Medical Services Advisory Group (MSAC), an advisory group to the Minister for Health within the Department of Health and Ageing.

Ms Jerga also served on Pico Advisory Sub Committee (PASC) for several years, on the Department of Health Cardiac and Vascular Prostheses Advisory Groups (VPCAG) and as a member of several MBS Clinical Committees and Working Groups, as well as Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) Post Mark Reviews.

Associate Professor Kudzai Kanhutu

Practitioner Member, Victoria

Qualifications:

• MBBS (Hons), BA/BSc, MPH, FRACP, GAICD, EMBA

Associate Professor Kudzai Kanhutu is a practitioner member of the Medical Board of Australia from Victoria and a multi-award winning infectious diseases specialist.

She is Dean of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and supports the professional journeys of over 30,000 specialist physicians across Australia and New Zealand. A/Prof Kanhutu also continues to provide patient care in the hospital and migrant health sector.

Kudzai is a vocal advocate for global health equity and committed to community wellbeing and in 2024, Kudzai was inducted to the Victorian Honour Roll for Women for her outstanding contributions to the Victorian community. She is also a member of the Commonwealth Australian Multicultural Council, where she further advances social inclusion.

She has a particular interest in technical solutions to health problems from her experience of health innovation in her birth country Zimbabwe and working in rural and regional Australia.

Associate Professor Ian Lee

Community Member, Northern Territory

Qualifications:

• BAppSc(CompSc)

Associate Professor Ian Lee is a proud Larrakia man and community member of the Medical Board of Australia from the Northern Territory. He is also the Medical Program First Nations Lead at Charles Darwin University (CDU). Ian is dedicated to training and supporting future doctors to be culturally safe practitioners in the Northern Territory and across Australia.

Ian grew up and completed his schooling in Darwin, later pursuing his interest in computing through an Aboriginal computer traineeship in Jabiru. He then moved to Canberra, earning a Bachelor of Applied Science in Computer Science at the University of Canberra. Returning to Darwin, Ian applied his skills to support Aboriginal communities, working with organisations like the Northern Land Council, Australian Bureau of Statistics, ANKA and ATSIC.

In 2011, Ian began studying medicine through the Northern Territory Medical Program run by Flinders University. Although his journey to become a doctor ended, he continued contributing to healthcare as part of the Client Engagement Team and working with the Patient Advocate at Royal Darwin Hospital.

When CDU announced its medical program, Ian was appointed to the First Nations Advisory Group and as a First Nations Health and Cultural Specialist within the Faculty of Health. He soon became the Medical Program’s First Nations Lead and part of the executive team.

Dr Andrew Mulcahy

Practitioner Member, Tasmania

Qualifications:

• MBBS, FFARACS, FANZCA

Dr Andrew Mulcahy is a practitioner member of the National Board and Chair of the Notifications Triage Committee. He previously served as Chair of the Tasmanian Board for six years and has been involved in medical regulation for more than 14 years, having been a member of the Medical Council of Tasmania before the introduction of the National Scheme.

Dr Mulcahy is a specialist anaesthetist in private practice in Hobart and has been a member (and currently Chair) of the Hobart Anaesthetic Group for 30 years. Before he was involved in medical regulation, Dr Mulcahy was a Board member of the Medical Protection Society of Tasmania. He has also been heavily involved in medical representative organisations in the past including as National President of the Australian Society of Anaesthetists and on the Board and Council of the Federal AMA.

Dr Mulcahy’s clinical practice covers a broad range of anaesthetic subspecialties and, in addition to medical regulation, he has particular interests in clinical review, quality improvement activities and medical indemnity.

Dr Hemanshu (Hemi) Patel

Practitioner Member, Northern Territory

Qualifications:

• MBBS, MSc, FRACS

Dr Hemi Patel is the current Chair of the Northern Territory Board of the Medical Board of Australia, a position he has held since 2020. Dr Patel first joined the Northern Territory Board as a member in 2016 and has also served as a member on the Medical Board's National Specialist IMG Committee.

He is a general ENT surgeon with special interests in ear disease, head and neck cancers and paediatrics. He sits on several committees as an advocate and expert in ENT conditions affecting Aboriginal people.

Dr Patel came to Australia from the United Kingdom and obtained his fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 2013. During this experience he was exposed to the challenges of ear disease in Aboriginal communities, fell in love with the Territory and has spent the last 18 years living and working on Larrakia land.

He is the current Chair of the Northern Territory Regional Committee of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and is Head of Otolaryngology, head and neck surgery at Royal Darwin Hospital.

Dr Aidan Tan

Practitioner Member, New South Wales

Qualifications:

• MD, MMed, BMed, GAICD

Dr Aidan Tan is a practitioner member of the Medical Board of Australia from New South Wales. He is also a paediatric registrar and deputy chief resident medical officer at Sydney Children’s Hospital, with interests in infectious diseases and general paediatrics.

Aidan is an experienced non-executive director with expertise across the health, research, education and not-for-profit sectors. He is a board director of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and the Association for Interdisciplinary Meta-research and Open Science, and a member of the Academic Board and Faculty of Medicine and Health Board at the University of Sydney.

He is a research affiliate at the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre and at Sydney Children’s Hospital, with experience in meta-research and open science, and an adjunct lecturer at the University of Sydney and a conjoint associate lecturer at the University of New South Wales and Western Sydney University, with expertise in evidence-based medicine.

Associate Professor Mary White

Practitioner Member, South Australia

Qualifications:

• MB, BCh, BAO, FFARCSI, FJFICMI

Associate Professor Mary White has been involved in medical regulation since the start of the National Scheme and is the current Chair of the South Australian Board of the Medical Board of Australia. She is also a practitioner member of the National Special Issues Committee (Cosmetic Practice) and the Registration Committee: Expedited Specialist Pathway.

A/Prof White is a senior consultant in intensive care at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Adelaide. Mary’s interests are in all aspects of clinical intensive care with a special interest in end-of-life care.

She has a strong commitment to education and training at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She has a particular interest in trainee welfare and runs the mentorship program for intensive care trainees at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. She previously served as a member of the Medical School Advisory Committee of the Australian Medical Council.

Mary has held a number of positions in professional and statutory bodies including President of the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society, current Chair of the Intensive Care Working Party of the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards and a longstanding member of the South Australian Medicines Advisory Committee.