Board of Directors 2021 - 2022

Chris has been involved with research with olfactory cells and paraplegia, and is currently involved in head and neck cancer research – his CV includes 50 papers, eight book chapters and 1,600 citations. Chris has done a lot of work in remote Aboriginal communities and was one of the founders of the Deadly Ears program.

“There has not been a public/private surgeon within the AMA leadership team for some time in Queensland. As the VMOs are the major providers of public surgical services for Queensland Health, as well as the private sphere where they do more than half of the total surgery in Australia. They are an important cog in the wheel of health delivery.

The interaction between the medical profession and the federal and state health departments, to the Ministers and potentially the Queensland Premier is very important. The AMA is the only lead organisation for all doctors in Australia. We need interaction with jurisdictions, which is respectful and mature. We also need to be able to present ideas and messages to the community in a way that people can understand.”

Dr Manoharan has had a long and deep history of service for the AMA, both in Queensland and nationally. He has been a member of AMA Queensland’s Branch Council since 2010 representing south-east Queensland and was heavily involved in major policy decisions by AMA Queensland over the years including termination of pregnancy, the Queensland SMO contracts crisis, euthanasia and physician assisted suicide, climate change, OHO legislation, medical schools expansions and the issues surrounding scope creed by nurse endoscopists, physician assistants, physiotherapists and pharmacists.

He joined the AMA Queensland Board in 2014 and is a member of its Finance, Risk and Audit Committee and Governance committee. He was an executive member of the Queensland Council of Doctors in Training (CDT) from 2011-2018 and was responsible for designing and implementing the first Resident Hospital Health Check survey in 2016, lead and co-convened the inaugural AMA Queensland Junior Doctor Conference in 2014 and was part of the team responsible for AMA Queensland's well-being program.

At the national level, Dr Manoharan currently serves as a Director of the AMA Board (2015-) and is member of the Medical Board of Australia's Medical Training Survey Steering Committee. He is also a Clinical Reference Lead for the Australian Digital Health Agency, part of the Clinical Governance Committee and was part of the Agency’s Covid-19 Response Taskforce, which led the design and implementation of several digital health initiatives to assist with the national response. He is a Assessor and Panellist for Queensland's Civil & Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) and continues to serve on the State Advisory Committee of MDA National.

Bav has a very strong interest in medical workforce strategy and planning, advocacy, industrial fairness, and training and wellbeing of our senior and junior doctors. Professionally, he is interested in clinical governance, digital health (in particular better utilisation of digital health technologies for improved patient outcomes), population health (chronic disease and oncological ma​nagement) and designing Value Based Health Care (VBHC) systems (recently completing the Harvard Business School VBHC Program in Boston). 

“It probably comes as no surprise that the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and evolving recovery efforts will need to be the focus for the leadership of the incoming AMA Queensland Executive team and Council."

“2021-2022 is going to be a year replete with challenges for the medical profession in the recovery from Covid-19 and vaccinations, but therein lies opportunity as well. We know that our private colleagues (GPs and non-GP Specialists alike) have had challenges over the last 12 months and new models of care have emerged through the pandemic. We will stand beside them as we advocate to preserve the positive system reform that have come from the current pandemic (i.e. telehealth MBS items, electronic prescribing and improved digital systems), but ensure that the deficiencies of these are not precedent to the new baseline. We will also support them to ensure they receive fair and equitable compensation for any work they undertake to assist the load the public system will face as we come out of this crisis. Equally, we must address the significant challenges faced by our doctors in training; our stood-down GP registrars; our residents and PHOs whose attempts at readying themselves for training roles have been disrupted and the ongoing challenges faced by training registrars with interruptions to their training progression and assessments.”

An experienced leader with strategic vision and a solid understanding of governance responsibilities, Dr Chew is the Chair of General Practice Training Queensland and a former Director of the Australian Digital Health Agency. She is a past Vice President and Chair of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.

Dr Chew is a member of the Professional Services Review Panel and the Medical Board Performance and Professional Standards Panel, and is an assessor with the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal. She is the RACGP Queensland Provost and a member of Council. An advocate for general practice, Dr Chew serves on a range of committees and working groups focused on the advancement of quality primary care.

“As a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, I have a clear understanding of my responsibilities as Director and Chair, and will work to ensure that the AMA Queensland Board exercises its responsibilities and fiduciary duty to support the association in serving its members. In my various roles representing the profession, I have gained valuable insights into the many challenges facing the medical profession, providing a sound basis for me to support Council to formulate policy and provide direction for the advancement of critical issues affecting Queensland doctors.”

“I am keen to represent regional doctors, and those who work too hard to represent themselves. I would like to see doctors advocate for their own quality of life and set an example of healthy living. I am interested in the role doctors have to play in advocating for change in nutrition and activity practices across their communities."

Dr Boulton is passionate about preventive medicine, continuity of care and ongoing education. Family Doctors Plus holds frequent seminars on empowering patients to manage and understand their health conditions. Dr Boulton is a regular guest on Afternoons with Kat Feeney on ABC Brisbane Radio and is the author of Mum’s Guide to Pregnancy. She is a founding member of the Australian Lifestyle Medicine Association and a member of The International Society for the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease.

“Opening Family Doctors Plus increased my awareness of the challenges faced by my GP and non-GP specialist colleagues, motivating me to become involved in creating positive change. Primarily, these challenges revolve around providing quality, evidence-based health care in the face of dwindling returns, inadequate MBS rebates and increased competition.”

As the General Practice Craft Group representative, Dr Yim notes the continuing pressures on general practice.  This includes challenges of public hospital wait times and the maldistribution of healthcare between metropolitan, regional and rural areas.

"There are multiple challenges facing Queenslanders, this ranges from the current COVID-19 pandemic, the ever evolving healthcare landscape and the challenges our patients face. I intend to advocate for doctors and the AMA Queensland organisation, which I hope will in turn improve the health of our communities and patients."

She is a Fellow Chartered Accountant and Graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

“It is important for member-focused organisations to provide support and representation of their members, through advocacy and member services, promotion and leadership. As a generalist advising on financial and business matters, I look forward to assisting and supporting the Board and management with their decisions which will impact AMA Queensland’s standing.”

Peter is now "retired" to a world of consulting, skilled governance and advisory service to industry, member organisations and researchers. He would like to be counted among those who helped to bring innovation, entrepreneurship, commercial sustenance and good governance to organisations that make significant contributions to the society in which we live.

For his service to science and commerce, Peter was awarded an Order of Australia (AM) - Member of the General Division – 2006 and an Outstanding Alumni Award - First Forty Years 1970-2012 - James Cook University. In 2019 he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science by James Cook University.

Beside his duties as a Non-Executive Director, he is Chairman of the Governance Committee on the AMAQ Board. He is currently the Chairman of The Wetlands and Grasslands Foundation, Non-Executive Director of Suncare Community Services Ltd (and Chairman of the Governance Committee), Chairman of the Advisory Board of the  Medical Engineering Research Facility at QUT, and is an Adjunct Professor, School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering, QUT. He is the Strategic Commercialisation Advisor in the Division of Research and Innovation at Sunshine Coast University. He has served on more than 30 boards over the last three decades, seven of those as Chair.

“Good governance and well-conceived strategy are cornerstones of excellence in member-focused organisations. I intend that my contribution to the AMA Queensland members’ benefit will be through support for the Board and management in applying effective, well-tried principles and practice in wise governance.”