Doctor’s Day 2024

For Doctor’s Day (30 March), we’d like to highlight Dr Shehzad Kunwar who has just recently commenced his role as Director of Medical Services at Eastern Health.

Dr Kunwar completed his junior doctor training in the UK then continued his career in Australia and worked at Eastern Health Angliss and Box Hill.

He then left Eastern health and achieved three fellowships in general practice, rural and remote medicine, and medical administration.

“I came back to Eastern Health because I loved it here, I had some really good mentors and now I am really glad to be back.”

Dr Kunwar currently looks after the medical workforce unit, including junior doctors, recruitment and clinical governance.

As part of his role, he talks about how doctors, especially junior doctors can sometimes fall into the cycle of work and study, having no time for their own wellbeing.

“When we become doctors, it becomes our life. And so over the course of the day, a lot of junior doctors, for example, would be working then continue studying or if they’re like me, sometimes read journal articles about medicine.”

“One of the things I always encourage all doctors, especially junior doctors, is to make sure they have some downtime. Having connections and spending time with your family and colleagues outside of work is important.

“It’s great to study, but what makes us better doctors is when we have empathy, understanding people and their background. And it all comes from the connections we build with those around us,” he said.