About Me
My Ethos
After almost 30 years of full-time clinical work, I still love everything about being a family GP. I love the intimacy and privilege of being able to follow 3 generations of a family across their entire life journey from birth to death.
I like to think outside the square and I realise my unique perspective is from being both a Specialist and a Generalist. Having to problem solve a myriad of bio-psycho-social issues for peoples of all demographics, all ages, all races and across an entire life span from birth to death has given me the broadest insights into people and their problems and how to fix them.
I am a born fixer so I am happiest when I am problem solving and I love being able to problem solve almost any problem that comes through the door.
I am also proud of my reputation in our community as an exceptional diagnostician and also as being an empathetic and yet analytical problem solver who can think outside the square. But I don’t just solve problems as I prefer to also be an educator.
Despite a belief that specialist doctors are a higher level of specialised care, in General Practice that narrow focus is a detriment and so I proudly consider myself to be a specialist and a generalist with a very broad knowledge base across wide spectrum of age and conditions.
Basically you need to see a lot of problems to know how to deal with them!
I also love it that my patients trust me enough to help them navigate problems beyond just medical problems. I've found many of my patients will also run their life problems past me for my advice and that has made me realise that what makes me a good GP is because I also approach my job as a life coach and a life problem solver.
I prioritise efficiency and logical practical approaches to problem solving and managing health. But my patients tell me that they respect me most for my ability to be blunt, “tell it like it is”, “cut through the crap”, and simplify complex concepts. If you can't handle blunt honesty, I may not be the right doctor for you!
I value simple systems and patterns and I educate patients using a life coach approach encompassing mental, physical, and interpersonal systems that are practical and easy to follow.
My ethos is to treat every patient like a medical student to encourage patients to understand and be responsible for their medical decisions. I tend to attract patients who want a logical plan of attack with their health and emotional problems. And I also attract patients who like to understand how a clinician arrives at a diagnosis and management plan.
My History
I have worked and lived in the inner north Brisbane area for close to 30 years and I proudly hold very strong ties to the local community and have represented local concerns as a community leader.
My love of medicine and helping people comes from being the 3rd generation of doctor in my family.
I was born in Hong Kong and emigrated to Australia at age 3 which means I sadly don’t speak any Asian languages.
I grew up in Maryborough through the 70’s and 80’s, lived at St Leo’s College in the 90’s and I graduated from the University of Queensland in 1994.
I worked for 5 years in Ipswich and 2 years in Newmarket before co-founding a successful medical centre at Homezone in Windsor in 2002.
However, after many medical centres were being bought out by corporates, I joined with Dr Tania Jardine and Dr David Carroll to open Newmarket Family Doctors, an 11 doctor medical centre within the Reading Village Shopping Centre in 2013. We believe that having a doctor owned medical centre is the best way to provide the best patient care.
I have also worked for 2 years all over Ireland doing locum work.
Outside of work
When not spending time with my family, my interests include running, gym work, snowboarding, digital painting and moonlighting as a cartoonist. And generally I just love trying new experiences.
I am also addicted to travel and I have so far been to 70 countries on all 7 continents with a plan to get to every country in the world before I die!
I also train and lead off road 4wding adventures which I create travel video blogs for such as crossing the Simpson Desert and Cape York.
I am also an accomplished kung fu martial artist who uses martial arts philosophies and energy principles to navigate life.
My Special Interests
I enjoy all aspects of General Practice but I have a a special interest in neurodiversity - ADHD and Autism, evolutionary psychology, emotional intelligence, mental health counselling for anxiety and depression, sports and running injuries, biomechanics for headaches, neck and shoulder problems, and also complex medical cases.
One of the specialty areas I am most proud of is working with people pleasers, empaths, perfectionists and people who need excessive validation.
I also have a particular interest in improving the mental health of business leaders and high functioning people who are prone to exhaustion and burnout.
I am passionate about improving emotional intelligence in all people.
Due to my breadth and depth of life experience and problem solving in medicine, I also have had many years as a public speaker across many topics. I also have a second business aimed at personal development and business leadership skills. More information on this can be found on my Speaker pages.
I am also in the process of authoring a book on neurodiversity and using evolutionary principles in running businesses and leadership management.
The Functional Spectrum Of Intelligence System (FSIS)
The best way to treat a lot of problems in mental health and with relationships is to understand how to read yourself and other people better.
For this reason I have created a new model called “The Functional Spectrum of Intelligence System” (FSIS) which systematises personality by using neurodiversity and evolutionary psychology principles.
Current personality systems like the Myers Briggs, Big 5 and DISC systems are good for personal understanding within career choices but do not educate people to read others and navigate all aspects of their life including relationships.
I created FSIS to challenge the existing personality profile systems as it is more simple and easy for the average person to learn. And it enables the average person to read personalities better, compare themselves to others and also to change their personality if they wish. I teach this within my mental health consultations. But I also use this for education lectures as a new approach to team building and personal development for high functioning people and business leaders. I am still presenting these talks while the book is being authored.
