WELCOME DR. DAVID MOUNTFORD
OUM names Associate Dean for Australia
David Mountford, MBBS, FRACGP, MFM, a clinician and educator with experience designing programming for Australian Medical Council (AMC) Examination preparations, has been appointed an OUM Associate Dean for Australia.
Dr. David Mountford
In this capacity, Dr. Mountford will assist OUM in the recruitment, orientation, evaluation, and management of faculty, staff members, and consultants in teaching the curriculum, advising students, and administering OUM’s program in Australia. He will contribute to the creation of examination material, such as OSCE construction and writing questions used to prepare students for their AMC examinations. Dr. Mountford will also supervise Clinical Student Advisors and Physician Mentors, tracking student progress and proposing improvements, as well as evaluating clinical log books. He joins colleagues Dr. Athol John Mackay, Associate Dean for Surgery Australia, and Dr. Matthew Rickard, Associate Dean for Internal Medicine Australia, who joined the University last year.
“After two hard years studying basic science, you deserve a reward, and that reward is learning the hands-on clinical skills that come with your clinical rotations,” says Dr. Mountford. “This is where you will translate all you have learnt to now benefit and care for other human beings. I am passionate about high quality clinical skills, and my colleagues and I at OUM will seek to provide you with a broad and deep understanding of clinical medicine.”
While early in his clinical career Dr. Mountford had interest in Spinal Injury Medicine and Cardiology, his concern for Australia’s shortage of General Practitioners led him to General Practice. He did spend a number of years during his GP practice in Springwood also assisting Orthopaedic and General Surgeons.
Dr. Mountford has been a medical educator for the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) and for the Central and Southern Queensland Training Consortium lecturing and training GP Registrars. He designed and managed a course to prepare International Medical Graduates for the AMC Exams, providing both MCQ test-taking strategies and hands-on patient care feedback. Most recently, Dr. Mountford has been a Case-Based Learning Tutor for the University of Queensland Graduate School for first- and second-year medical students.
“I am delighted to welcome Dr. Mountford to our Australian team,” says Professor Hugh Bartholomeusz, OAM, RFD, MBBS, FRACS, OUM Dean for Australia. “I have known him for fifty years and regard him as a very highly qualified community medicine specialist with proven experience in the conduct of AMC Examinations. His overall patient and family centered, holistic approach to clinical skills acquisition will ensure the highest standards of education for our students. They are very fortunate to have him as their mentor.”
In addition to his practice, Dr. Mountford was especially active within his medical community. He worked in a Cardiac Rehabilitation Unit with colleagues from the Logan Area Division of General Practice (LADGP), serving on its board for several years, as well. He also initiated a Cancer Rehabilitation Unit in association with the Queensland Cancer Council and the Oncology Unit at Mater Public Hospital.
Dr. Mountford became very involved in Palliative Care, also through the LADGP. He joined other GPs with the Mount Olivet Hospice Home Care team spending time each week in partnership with home health nurses and families to admit patients and devise a care plan for their patients’ final days.
Dr. Mountford earned his medical degree at the University of Queensland, in addition to Fellowship in the RACGP. In subsequent years, he earned his Graduate Diploma in Family Medicine and his Clinical Master’s Degree in Family Medicine, both from Monash University.
The father of four adult daughters with grandchild number six on the way, in his spare time Dr. Mountford plays bass guitar in a rock ‘n roll band.
(February 2021)