Dr Mikaela Seymour, passionate about improving the health of rural and remote PNG communities

Dr Mikaela Seymour is a medical doctor working in Papua New Guinea. Over the last two years she has worked as the only doctor in some of the most remote and rural villages of Western Province PNG, accessible only by grass airstrips. During the global pandemic she was responsible for the COVID19 response and vaccine roll out. Working among a team of PNG health workers, she was responsible for maintaining primary health care, antenatal, family planning, and childhood immunisation programs, despite the challenges of the pandemic. Graduating from Griffith University in 2015 with a Masters of Medicine (MD) and Bch of Medical Science, she completed a Masters of Surgical Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, Global Surgery Course at Oxford University and Masters of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at James Cook University. She is currently completing her Global Health Engagement Grad. Cert. at USUHS. Mikaela is the founder of the Bush Dokta Subcommittee (Project Yumi Charity), connecting PNG and Australian remote health care workers, supporting grassroots health projects in Papua New Guinea. In 2018 she was awarded AMA Doctor in Training of the year due to her contributions to health care in the Western Pacific region, and 2020 Qld Young achiever for Health Care. Dr Seymour is the past deputy chair of the Australian Medical Association of Qld (AMAQ) Council of Doctors in Training, previous Chair of the Junior Medical Officer Forum of Queensland and Doctor in Training member of the Medical Workforce Advisory Committee and Medical Schools Liaison Committee for the Office of the Chief Medical Officer. During university, Mikaela was president and treasurer of the Griffith University Medical Society, secretary of the Queensland Medical Students Council, and ACRRM John Flynn Rural Scholar. Mikaela was selected for the Rural Medical Education Association (RMEA) Placement to Western Province PNG and has continued volunteering in Papua New Guinea. She has been recognized by the Lowy Institute’s AUS-PNG Network as a Young Leader in the Pacific, attending the Aus-PNG Dialogue in 2017. Since then, she has been published in the Aus-PNG network blog, the Development Policy Blog Crawford Centre and the Lowy Interpreter on Pacific health issue.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.