Judi Walker
Head—School of Rural Health
Telephone: +61 3 5128 1000
Facsimile: +61 3 5128 1080
Email: Judi.Walker@monash.edu
PhD Grad Dip Ed BA (Hons) FACE AFACHSE
Professor Judi Walker took up the position of Professor and Head, School of Rural Health at Monash University in November 2010. She comes to Monash from the University of Tasmania (UTAS) where she held the inaugural Chair of Rural Health which acknowledged the significant contribution she has made to the development of academic rural health in Australia. Her background and achievements exemplify the multidisciplinary and interprofessional nature of rural health.
Judi was the Chief Executive of the UTAS Rural Clinical School—a conjoint appointment with the Tasmanian DHHS—and Deputy Dean, Faculty of Health Science. She was co-Executive Director, Partners in Health, the unique partnership between UTAS and DHHS which drives strategic health services workforce education reform. Judi played a key role in university affairs as Deputy/Acting Chair of Academic Senate and Deputy / Acting Dean Faculty of Health Science over a number of years. She was the inaugural Associate Dean Teaching and Learning for the Faculty of Health Science—a position she held for 5 years.
As a medical educator specializing in open and distance education methodologies she brings to Monash a wealth of experience in innovative approaches to clinical placements, vertical integration in medical education, community engagement, health workforce role re-design and health services reform generally. Her PhD topic spanned health and education policy reforms in the context of people with severe disabilities and adaptive technologies which had wide-reaching impact nationally and internationally. In health education, she was responsible for leading the team that developed Australia’s paramedic education accreditation standards, is a regular contributor to AMC accreditation teams and has led teams to develop a suite of postgraduate coursework courses in clinical leadership, eHealth and medical education. She is currently CI with research teams in eHealth applications (Australian Government), and service delivery models for Healthy Ageing (ARC Linkage) and is involved in a number of health workforce projects (HWA and AHWI). Current graduate research supervision spans topics ranging from paramedic extended scope of practice, resilience, health literacy and transdermal opioid use in a rural pain population.
Judi has just been elected Chair of the Federation of Rural Australian Medical Educators (FRAME) and will represent Monash University on the Board of the Australian Rural Health Education Network (ARHEN).
Judi and Mike Walker have three children and two grandchildren (ages 2 and 1 year) and their family base is a productive farming property in North West Tasmania growing, this year, poppies, pyrethrum, wheat, onions and cattle.
Book chapters
Walker, J. (2009). Educating Paramedics. Paramedics in Australia: contemporary challenges of practice. eds: Peter O’Meara, Carol Grbich. Sydney, Pearson Publishing: 160-173.
Walker, J., De Witt, D., Newbury, J., Larson, A., (2008). A Connected Australia - now and in the future. A Textbook of Australian Rural Health. eds: Kilpatrick. Canberra, Australian Rural Health Education Network: 205-215.
