AFMW Executive is proud to announce our new affiliate partnership with Advancing Women in Healthcare Leadership (AWHL).
AWHL is supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council Partnership Projects scheme, along with their major partners including Royal Australasian College of Physicians, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators, Australian Medical Association, government and healthcare services.
Their aim is to bring together leading organisations from across the healthcare sector to co-design, implement and evaluate evidence-based and measurable individual and organisational level interventions to advance women in healthcare leadership. Led by a team of multidisciplinary clinicians and academics with expertise in health leadership, evidence synthesis, implementation and translation, AWHL has the potential to transform the healthcare sector.
When asked about the role of the Australian Federation of Medical Women (AFMW), I like to summarise it with this list which is also my vision for AFMW:
- We build medical women leaders.
- We support women in leadership.
- We support women into leadership.
- We support each other through hard times.
- We share, talk about, celebrate our successes.
- We build partnerships.
- We act with kindness.
- We support the health of all Australians and apply the gender lens to health reforms and systems to achieve equity.
With this vision and the strength or our members’ collective knowledge and experience, this is an exciting opportunity for all women in medicine.
Associate Professor Magdalena Simonis AM is the Immediate Past President of the AFMW (2020-2023), former President of VMWS (2013 & 2017-2020) and current AFMW National Coordinator (2024-2026). She is a full time clinician who also holds positions on several not for profit organisations, driven by her passion for bridging gaps across the health sector. She is a leading women’s health expert, keynote speaker, climate change and gender equity advocate and government advisor. Magda is member of The Australian Health Team contributing monthly articles.
Magdalena was awarded a lifetime membership of the RACGP for her contributions which include past chair of Women in General Practice, longstanding contribution to the RACGP Expert Committee Quality Care, the RACGP eHealth Expert Committee. She is regularly invited to comment on primary care research though mainstream and medical media and contributes articles on various health issues through newsGP and other publications.
Magdalena has represented the RACGP at senate enquiries and has worked on several National Health Framework reviews. She is author of the RACGP Guide on Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery and co-reviewer of the RACGP Red Book Women’s Health Chapter, and reviewer of the RACGP White book
Both an RACGP examiner and University examiner, she undertakes general practice research and is a GP Educator with the Safer Families Centre of Research Excellence, which develops education tools to assist the primary care sector identify, respond to and manage family violence . Roles outside of RACGP include the Strategy and Policy Committee for Breast Cancer Network Australia, Board Director of the Melbourne University Teaching Health Clinics and the elected GP representative to the AMA Federal Council. In 2022. she was award the AMA (Vic) Patrick Pritzwald-Steggman Award 2022, which celebrates a doctor who has made an exceptional contribution to the wellbeing of their colleagues and the community and was listed as Women’s Agenda 2022 finalist for Emerging Leader in Health.
Magdalena has presented at the United Nations as part of the Australian Assembly and was appointed the Australian representative to the World Health Organisation, World Assembly on COVID 19, by the Medical Women’s International Association (MWIA) in 2021. In 2023, A/Professor Simonis was included on the King’s COVID-19 Champion’s list and was also awarded a Member (AM) in the General Division for significant service to medicine through a range of roles and to women’s health.
