About Cathy Regan

I am a GP who has practiced in the same town for a few decades and the same practice for about twenty years. I originally did a social work degree at Sydney University, came up to Newcastle for my first job and somehow ended up going back to uni in the first year of the new medical school –supported by my husband (we had our two children during that time).  My favourite social work paradigm related to “problem solving” (and my honours thesis was about whole person care) so I was well suited to a problem based course.

I did a bit of teaching of volunteers as a social worker and of medical students as a new graduate and GP.  I was involved in organising local CPD for a number of years and then got a job as a Medical Educator with the RACGP 20+ years ago.  Somehow it seemed to combine my medical curiosity with my social work inclinations!  I continued as the Director of Education for “General Practice Training –Valley to Coast” until it closed down. I then worked as a senior medical educator with GP Synergy for fourteen months.   Somewhere along the way I fitted in a part time PhD on Frailty.  Aged care and the medicine of aging is a strong clinical interest – began with visits to nursing homes in my teens, work as a nurse’s aide in nursing homes during my first degree and a year as a geriatric social worker.  There have been a few clinical side trips into women’s health and dermatology (as happens in general practice) and it’s hard not to be interested in everything, but my main conference interests ended up being in Medical Education and it was very exciting to attend AMEE, WONCA and ASME conference over the years in Europe, to see what the latest developments were and to come back with ideas to trial and implement here.  In 2017 I was awarded an AM. I am still working in clinical practice.

I like to write, be creative and produce things. I used to read more and have lots of craft interests but they tended to get crowded out by work.  However, I can indulge myself by posting photos on this blog.  I don’t like talking about myself in the third person.