Renowned respiratory medicine physician and regional and remote health services researcher, Professor Graeme Maguire, has been appointed Associate Dean of Medicine at Curtin University.
Professor Maguire is a specialist physician whose research interests have focussed on health services research and the health care needs of vulnerable populations including Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander peoples and residents of rural and resource poor settings.
Professor Maguire joins Curtin from Western Health in Melbourne where he has been the head of General Internal Medicine while continuing to provide remote physician outreach services to Christmas and Cocos-Keeling Islands. Prior to this he was a Divisional Director at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne and Alice Springs and spent 15 years working as a physician in regional and remote Australia including the Kimberley, far north Queensland, the ‘Top End’ of the Northern Territory and Central Australia.
Curtin University Pro-Vice Chancellor Health Sciences, Professor Archie Clements said Professor Maguire’s vast experience working together with vulnerable communities to deliver better health outcomes made him a valuable and welcome addition to Curtin’s Medical School.
“Professor Maguire has spent decades working on the ground in remote areas, engaging with those communities to understand their health needs in order to deliver better services. This commitment, echoes Curtin’s own focus on rural and regional health,” Professor Clements said.
“His leadership and expertise will be invaluable, particularly as we open our Rural Health Campus at Kalgoorlie, which is focussed on addressing the uneven distribution of health services in regional Western Australia through increasing rural training opportunities and programs.”
Curtin Medical School Dean, Professor Sandra Eades said she was delighted to welcome Professor Maguire to the Curtin Medical School leadership team, where he will join fellow new appointee, Associate Dean Professor Wieland Meyer.
“Professor Maguire is an outstanding addition to the Medical School who will help us bridge the gap in healthcare delivery for regional communities and First Nations peoples through active community engagement and growing partnerships with localised government and industry stakeholders,” Professor Eades said.
Professor Maguire said he was looking forward to joining Curtin Medical School, which shares his vision of providing high quality, accessible and appropriate health care services to our most vulnerable populations.
“As a clinician whose heart is firmly ‘in the bush’, I’m excited to be joining Curtin University’s School of Medicine. The School’s innovative undergraduate program and strong links with our community will ensure we are well positioned to provide the next generation of doctors for Western Australia and our region,” Professor Maguire said.
“As the School of Medicine prepares for its first graduating year at the end of 2021, I will be focused on supporting the School to not only provide high quality medical graduates but also to accompany and support these colleagues on their lifelong journey of clinical service, training and education.”
Professor Maguire holds a Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, has a public health qualification from James Cook University and a PhD from the University of Sydney relating to remote Aboriginal Australian respiratory health.
He is also the President-elect of the Adult Medicine Division of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and Chair of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s expert advisory group on asthma and other chronic respiratory conditions.
Professor Maguire took up the Associate Dean role this month.
