Dr Clara Tuck Meng Soo and Dr Dinesh Palipana have been awarded the Australian Medical Association’s 2024 Diversity in Medicine Awards.
AMA President Professor Steve Robson said the pair were being honoured for their outstanding contributions to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in the medical field.
“Dr Soo and Dr Palipana are both exceptional medical practitioners who are dedicated to providing the best possible care for their patients,” Professor Robson said.
“We’d like to honour Dr Soo and Dr Palipana for their commitment to providing compassionate and inclusive healthcare for all. Their compassion and empathy have made a profound difference in the lives of countless individuals and families across Australia.”
Dr Soo, a Canberra-based general practitioner known for her dedication to the LGBTIQ+ community, has been instrumental in promoting the rights and well-being of transgender and gender diverse people.
Dr Soo said she was honoured to accept the award.
“The AMA’s award for diversity in medicine sends a strong message about the importance of the diverse communities working in medicine and the diverse communities that we serve,” Dr Soo said.
“In giving me this award, I see it as the AMA acknowledging my work with the LGBTIQ community and in particular the trans community, and I am grateful for this powerful gesture of support.”
Dr Palipana is an emergency doctor living with quadriplegia. He was the first quadriplegic medical intern in Queensland and the second person to graduate medical school with quadriplegia in Australia.
He is a passionate disability advocate, dedicating his professional life to working, teaching and researching health.
Dr Palipana said he was proud to accept the award.
“If we are to thrive as a profession and remain relevant, we must reflect the community that we serve,” Dr Palipana said.
“The journey, coming to medicine from a country divided in ethnic and political wars to Australia, then sustaining a spinal cord injury in medical school, has been a personal reminder of the diversity of people in our world.
“It is heartening to have the AMA enable diversity within us, so we can be the best doctors for the humanity we have the privilege of healing.”
The awards were announced last night at the AMA’s ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Conference on the Gold Coast in Queensland.
