Professor Leon Piterman AM

MBBS, M.Med (Primary Care), M.Ed.St, FRCP(Edin), FRACGP

Head, School of Primary Health Care

Senior Deputy Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences

Profile

Professor Piterman’s clinical and research interests lie in the areas of cardiovascular disease, mental health and medical education. As a medical educator he is responsible for establishing Australia’s largest and most successful Diploma/Masters Program in Family Medicine which has now produced over 1000 graduates nationally and internationally since 1994 and contributed significantly to capacity building in academic general practice. In addition the medical conferences he has organised since 1988 have attracted over 3000 delegates and enhanced Monash’s profile as a major provider of continuing medical education. His other major contribution has been the development of clinical audit instruments to measure the effectiveness of educational interventions in changing practitioner behaviour and in monitoring patient health outcomes.

He is a member of the Panel of Examiners of the Australian Medical Council and sits on or Chairs a number of University and professional Committees related to research, teaching or educational administration. He maintains limited clinical practice having previously been in full time clinical practice from 1977 – 1992.

He has been awarded the Faculty’s Silver Jubilee Prize for Medical Education, the RACGP Faulding Prize for Research and the Hong Kong College of General Practice Prize for Research.

He currently holds a number of NHMRC and other government and industry grants with a total value in excess of $2.5 million. He has published over 90 refereed papers, book chapters and co-edited the text “General Practice Psychiatry” released in October 2006.

In 2006 he was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia for service to family medicine through distance education for doctors in remote areas, to research and student training, and to international medical education.