I first went into 145 Macquarie St in the 1940s, visiting Dorothy Roseby with my mother, her sister. Little did I know I would become a Fellow of the College in 1975.

John Chalmers convinced me to become a medical registrar at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. My rotation to Port Moresby and the later invitation from the RPAH to return from England and be involved in the establishment of community health services around the hospital led to my focus changing from individual care to the health of populations. I continued as a general physician at the RPAH and was also involved in the establishment of Alcohol and Drug Services there.

I had the wonderful opportunity to complete a Masters of Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health. Junior doctors would ask me how to train in Community Medicine, as it was then known. There was no answer. The UK, US, Canada and New Zealand all had training programs in Community Medicine, but not Australia. I gained a Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators, but did not think I was a Medical Administrator.

 A number of us formed the Australian Association of Community Physicians to determine whether there was a need for a similar training program in Australia, and after some years of consultation decided there was, and considered the options. The then PRACP, Priscilla Kincaid-Smith, asked if we wanted to be a Faculty of the RACP and we said ‘Yes’. The RACP preferred the name Public Health Medicine, following a similar change in the UK.

I was NSW Chief Health Officer from 1988 to 1994, during the early days of HIV/AIDS. It was a privilege to be a member of all the key health bodies such as the NSW Medical Board, National Health and Medical Research Council, and Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council, to name a few. During that time, we were able to greatly expand training in Public Health Medicine and Public Health Services, including the establishment of decentralised Public Health Units, which proved an invaluable resource during COVID.

After I left NSW Health, I worked as an independent consultant. Working with Jack Best, I was involved in establishing initially the University Departments of Rural Health across Australia, later the Rural Clinical Schools and rural internships. It was a great opportunity to get to know rural and remote Australia and the health professionals working in those areas.

I also led the AusAID funded, RACP led Medical Officer, Nursing and Allied Health Professional Project in Papua New Guinea, visiting PNG again 8 times.