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Giving back feature
Meet our new Global Health team
Since 1994, the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) Global Heath Program has worked with AusAID, now the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), to support delivery of specialist surgical services and medical training and education activities in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the Pacific Islands (Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, the Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu) and, since 2001, in Timor-Leste and Myanmar. Drawing on over 20 years of experience in health development, RACS Global Health builds on lessons learnt and the latest knowledge in global health while responding to changing national contexts and priorities. With the leadership of the Global Health Chair, Miss Annette Holian, and the Head of Global Health, Philippa Nicholson, RACS Global Health is leading a strategic approach to health systems strengthening in the Asia-Pacific region. It is delivering quality improvements for healthcare recipients and collaborating with governments and regional institutions to ensure the best possible outcomes. The Global Health department relies on the critical contribution of over 200 specialist volunteers who work with us to support delivery of health, education and leadership activities. In 2020, the RACS Global Health team has seen a rejuvenation of its leadership and team, with many new team members joining to support continued delivery of services, despite the impacts of COVID-19, and in a year of DFAT accreditation. The Global Health team would like to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves to members and staff. Over the coming year, and with the planned establishment of a Global Health Section, we look forward to working with you.
Miss Annette Holian Chair of Global Health
both parties stand to gain improved understanding. We will walk with our regional partners hand in hand, side by side. My favourite thing about working in this field is the opportunity to influence the future model of support to those tasked with providing sustainable surgical and medical services. Philippa Nicholson Head of Global Health
From 1997-2003 I was a volunteer orthopaedic surgeon working and teaching on short trips to PNG and Vietnam. In July 1998, I responded to the Aitape tsunami on the north coast of PNG as a civilian under the Australian Defence Force Joint Task Force JTF-110. Following that experience, I joined the Royal Australian Air Force to serve in East Timor, completed two years of trauma Fellowships and continued clinical work as a full-time trauma surgeon. I worked with The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in Solomon Islands in 2003, responded to the Boxing Day tsunami in December 2004, served with RAN again in western Sumatra, responding to an earthquake in 2005, and served in the Middle East area of operations in 2008, 2010 and 2012. I have led clinical teams in very austere environments and this, combined with my qualification in surgical education, has set me up well to support regional partners in developing their own sustainable surgical capabilities. I very much regard our support as that of a friend with some capability supporting a partner-in-need – and in this partnership,
I am an experienced leader in development and humanitarian program and partnership management, coming to RACS Global Health with over 20 years of experience in senior management of global programs, advocacy, partnerships and funding in the not-for-profit sector. I’m a team-orientated, but independent leader and have previously worked in Africa, Asia-Pacific and Europe with UNICEF, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Australia Government and ChildFund Australia. I am proud to be the recipient of the Overseas Humanitarian Service Medal for my work with UNICEF during the Ebola response in Sierra Leone in 2014. I enjoy