FULFILLING CLINICAL, ACADEMIC & RESEARCH GOALS IN GENERAL PRACTICE Leading public discussion on healthcare policy and the future of general practice
With
Dr Ramya Raman FRACGP, MBBS,
BSSc (Hons), Dip Children’s Health , Dip Women’s Health, GAICD &
RACGP Vice President & WA Chair
PEOPLE IN HEALTH CARE SEGMENT
Filmed in Sydney | June 2026
Dr Ramya Raman is a Specialist General Practitioner, medical educator, and health policy leader. Raised in Orange in Central West NSW, where she lived for over 15 years, she brings a deep, lived understanding of rural and community healthcare to her work.
Now based in Perth for nearly two decades, she is the Director of The Garden Family Medical Clinic in Piara Waters, where she continues in clinical practice and leads a modern, forward-thinking teaching practice. She is also Discipline Head of General Practice at the University of Notre Dame, Fremantle, leading the training of future doctors.
Dr Raman is an experienced board director with a strong focus on governance, strategy, and health system reform. She currently serves as Chair of RACGP WA and Vice President of the RACGP nationally.
She has built a national profile as a leading advocate for patient safety and evidence-based reform, and is a confident media communicator, regularly contributing to public discussion on healthcare policy and the future of general practice.
Recognised as RACGP WA GP of the Year (2020) and AMA (WA) Advocate of the Year (2024), her leadership is driven by a clear principle: strengthening general practice is essential to strengthening Australia’s health system.
Source: Supplied
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Course developed for people with intellectual disability to learn about research
Scope Australia is one of the largest not-for-profit disability service providers in Australia, supporting thousands of people with complex intellectual, physical, and multiple disabilities.
They operate across Victoria and New South Wales across more than 425 service locations.Scope’s research team developed a course about what research is and how to do research. Eight people with intellectual disability did the course. Five people took part in interviews to help Scope learn about the course and how to make it better.
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Maximising benefits, minimising harms in population health screening
Population screening is an important contributor to advancing health outcomes through the early detection of and successful intervention for chronic disease. The evolution of science, technology and evidence relating to diseases which are or may be amenable to a population screening approach deserve broad discussion and the sharing of expertise and evidence. They also warrant close scrutiny in context of health policy and health resource allocation considerations.
In March, Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) convened Screening Conference Conference 2025 with the theme of ‘Population Screening for Chronic Disease – Maximising Benefits, Minimising Harms’.
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Misinformation impacts routine vaccines
More significant changes in recent years have been health-related misinformation eroding trust in healthcare professionals, leading to people seeking alternative treatments or avoiding medical advice altogether. This can make it more difficult for healthcare professionals to provide effective treatment and care.
Recent vaccines delivered as part of the COVID-19 response, are having a consequential impact on the uptake of routine vaccines.
Australian Health Journal spoke with Dr Paul Griffin, an Infectious Diseases Physician and Microbiologist at Mater Health, and who has been involved in over 150 clinical trials in the field of infectious disease.
Paul talks about the importance of having reputable sources of information that can used to encourage people to understand what is involved in clinical trials and the roles of vaccines.
