Interviews from the Frontline

Dr David Walker moved to Longreach for the job. Twenty years later, he says it’s the community that kept him there. David is a rural generalist and the Executive Director of Medical Services for Central West Hospital and Health Service. In his interview, David takes us behind the scenes of his journey into medicine – including why his mum suggested he see a psychologist before he pursued a career as a doctor! He also reflects on the unique challenges (and privileges) of being a doctor in a small community, and what rural medicine has taught him along the way. Hear the story behind the doctor, the leader, the family man and community member.

From sun safety and sexual health to tackling vaping and promoting healthy eating, Katherine ‘Kat’ Cacavas is passionate about helping people live healthier lives. As Senior Health Promotion Officer with the Gold Coast Public Health Unit, Kat spends her days working with communities to deliver health messages that connect, inspire action and make a real difference. On the back of the Senate’s prevention meeting, we caught up with Kat to chat about her work, the challenges of encouraging healthy behaviours, and how she helps break down barriers to accessing important health information and services. We also hear about Kat’s career journey as a dietitian, which has taken her from Melbourne to West Africa, Australia’s Red Centre and now the Gold Coast.

This International Nurses Day, we’re proud to spotlight the incredible work of Charlie McCall. As Assistant Director of Nursing – Navigation Projects for Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service, Charlie played an integral role in the creation of the Pop Up Palliative Care Service — supporting First Nations patients to return home and spend their final days surrounded by family, community and Country. Charlie shares the meaningful impact this service has had on end-of-life care, along with her personal journey from growing up in Glasgow to working in remote Queensland healthcare.

Dr Kate Johnston knew from the age of 14 that she wanted to pursue a career in medicine — and she has spent her career turning that early ambition into meaningful impact. Today, Kate is an experienced GP, Medical Director of GP Partnerships and Engagement at Gold Coast Health, and Deputy Chair of the Queensland Clinical Senate. Along the way, she has made a significant contribution to patient care, built a team that supports GPs, and strengthened our health system. In our interview with Kate, she reflects on her journey, leadership experiences and insights into general practice and the importance of prevention.

In our first podcast episode for 2026, we take you behind the scenes with Queensland Health’s Chief Allied Health Officer, Liza-Jane McBride. Find out how the girl from Charters Towers almost became an engineer before finding her way into physiotherapy, why she decided against sports physio after a season with a UK football club, why she moved into leadership and what role funny cat videos play in her life …plus so much more.

Professor Brian Dolan is the originator of the #Last1000Days global social movement to value patients’ time. Originally from Ireland, he is a dual-qualified emergency and mental health nurse and is Honorary Adjunct Professor of Innovation in Healthcare at Bond University on the Gold Coast. Following his keynote presentation at our Last 1000 Days meeting, Brian joined us to record a podcast interview about his career, how we can better support patients during their last 1000 days, his philosophy that while staffs’ time is important the patient’s time is sacred and how this informs his approach to service redesign, and his work to end PJ paralysis. We even find out which member of the Royal Family Brian met when he received an OBE ‘For Services to Nursing and Emergency Care’ in the UK.

On this R U Okay Day, we take a look back at a snippet (7 minutes) of our podcast interview with Dr Liz Crowe sharing some of her tips to help us fill our tanks, feel less stressed, create space to look after our wellbeing, and be more engaged. Liz spent 25 years as a social worker, predominantly in paediatric intensive care and critical care and during that time developed a passion for clinician wellbeing and started researching how she could support her colleagues. Her passion recently became her profession, and Liz now draws on her clinical experience and research in her role as a staff wellbeing consultant, counsellor and coach at the Royal Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

Professor Ian Scott is a familiar face at the Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH). For 28 years he was the PAH’s Director of Internal Medicine before stepping down in 2024. During that time, he’s seen many changes, taken on a variety of leadership roles and led many important clinical projects. As Ian steps into the next chapter of his life – combining semi-retirement with a part-time role focused on AI in healthcare for Metro South - we talk to him about medicine, his interest in AI and the highlights from a long and distinguished healthcare career.

Dr Rizsa Albarracin grew up in abject poverty in a remote jungle in the Philippines. At age 12, she left her village on her own to pursue an education in the hope of breaking the poverty cycle and seeing the world. Fast forward a decade or more, a medical science degree, a PhD in Vision Neuroscience, world travel and a new-found passion for climate change, and Rizsa landed a job with Queensland Health’s Office of Hospital Sustainability as lead for climate risk and adaptation. On the back of the Senate’s ‘Climate Change and Healthcare’ meeting, we speak with Rizsa about Queensland Health’s actions to reduce emissions and its impact on the climate, and how she is giving back to her village in the Philippines.

As a young girl, Liz Wilkes didn’t like the sight of blood, so when she told her parents she wanted to be a midwife, they ‘never imagined in a million years it could happen’. But the girlfrom Taree, on the NSW mid north coast, followed her dream and pursued a career in midwifery. That career has taken Liz from the Hunter Valley to London and now Queensland, where she became Queensland Health’s first Chief Midwife Officer in 2024. In this episode of ‘ Interviews from the Frontline’ , we talk to Liz about her almost 30-year career as a midwife and her priorities in the top job.

As a clinician leader, Dr Kellie Wren wears multiple hats, her newest being Chair of the Queensland Clinical Senate. We spoke with Kellie about why she took on the role of Chair and what she hopes to achieve during her time in the job. As the daughter of a plumber and a seamstress, Kellie also shares with us the moment she declared she wanted to become a doctor, why she chose anaesthetics and, as a busy doctor and medical administrator, how she relaxes by doing things she’s really bad at.

As an Aboriginal child born in 1966, Dr Louis Peachey says the idea of going to medical school was ‘never on the cards’. But life had other ideas, and he became the first member of his family to not only attend university, but to become a medical doctor. In 2021, Dr Peachey was awarded Life Membership of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine. We spoke with Dr Peachey about how he ended up at medical school, his career as a rural generalist and the dual role he takes on that has an incredible impact on every young doctor and medical student he supervises. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in this podcast interview are the interviewee’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Queensland Health or the Queensland Clinical Senate.

Rural Generalist Dr Emily Moody wears many professional hats – Senior Medical Officer at Boonah Health Service, West Moreton Hospital and Health Service, Co-Chair of the Queensland Rural and Remote Clinical Network, and Chair of the Queensland Clinical Networks Executive, to name just three! Originally from Cairns, Emily spoke to us about her many roles, how she finds balance between work and a young family, why she is as passionate about her career today as she was 15years ago as an intern and why she encourages others to consider rural medicine.

Professor Clair Sullivan is a passionate and experienced endocrinologist who is a leader in digital health for Queensland. We spoke with Clair about how she found herself in digital health. And, on the back of the Senate's 'Transforming Flow' meeting, Clair talks about the new study she has co-authored about why access block is not all about the emergency department and the need to understand the complex interactions a consumer has in the care system throughout their journey and across the many interjurisdictional and intersectoral boundaries.

Even as a young graduate nurse, Jed Duff was always trying to influence change and implement evidence-based practice when he saw opportunities for improvement. But when he couldn't find evidence to fix the problems he came across, Jed decided it was time to start creating his own. This was the beginning of his successful research career. Professor Jed Duff is now the Chair of Nursing for Queensland's largest hospital, the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, and continues his career-long mission to solve 'real world' problems to improve patient outcomes using evidence-based innovations.

Leia Barnes is one of only a handful of consultant vestibular physiotherapists in Australia and is passionate about the world of ‘dizziness and balance’. So when a call for ideas to reduce pressures on the Emergency Department came across her desk, Leia came up with ‘Dial a Dizzy’, a telehealth hotline to help clinicians across Queensland diagnose and treat vertigo. Dial a Dizzy gives patients the right care, at the right time in the right place - allowing them to get back to their normal life with just one or two short treatments. Dial a Dizzy is now supporting 19 hospitals – and growing - across Queensland.

Jenny Timor has worked with some of the most vulnerable people in her community, from First Nations youth detained in the police watchhouse, to people living on the streets. And now as Coordinator of the Indigenous Youth Team for the Mackay Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service, Jenny is working with young people experiencing severe turmoil who are 'running to stand still'. We spoke with Jenny about her work, how her mum has influenced her life, and what she wants people to know during this National Reconciliation Week.

Dr Lachlan McIver grew up in the small rural Queensland town of Millaa Millaa. A family tragedy led him to a career in medicine, and medicine has since taken him on a journey from working in Queensland hospitals to some of the most remote and underprivileged countries around the world. Lachlan is now in Geneva as the Tropical Diseases and Planetary Health Advisor for Doctors without Borders. We spoke with Lachlan about his journey from Millaa Millaa to Switzerland, and, on the back of the Senate’s climate change meeting, about his drive to make a difference to climate change and the impact it is having on human health.

Sepsis is a global health emergency. And diagnosing it is like 'trying to find a needle in a haystack', according to Intensive Care Physician and Digital Sepsis Clinical Lead for Clinical Excellence Queensland, Dr Paul Lane. Paul is hoping to change that with the help of artificial intelligence. Paul is leading a team that is developing an artificial intelligence model that could support doctors to predict sepsis and diagnose it earlier.

Dr Allison Hempenstall was first introduced to life on Thursday Island and the Torres Strait during a rotation as a junior doctor. This experience fuelled her interest in remote health and before long she was 'hooked'! Allison returned to the island as a rural generalist, spending a number of years working one-on-one with patients before turning her focus to the health of entire communities as the Public Health Medical Officer for the Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service. Allison talks to the Senate about her work on the island, her new long-term focus on the health of remote communities, and her passion for research, particularly studying infectious diseases, and why she involves First Nations people in every step of the process.