RDN's Senior Academic Advisor Emeritus Professor Roger Strasser AM honoured at recent Rural WONCA Conference

RDN is thrilled to share that Prof. Roger Strasser received one of the first ever Fellowships from Rural WONCA at the 21st WONCA World Rural Health Conference in Wellington, New Zealand, in April this year.

The Rural WONCA Fellowship is the highest honour bestowed by the organisation, recognising individuals who have made an outstanding, sustained contribution to rural health globally – through advocacy, research, education or clinical leadership.

In 1992 Prof. Strasser became Australia's first appointed Professor of Rural Health and is recognised as a global leader in the development of rural, socially accountable medical education, creating and refining strategies to teach health professionals best-practice methods for successful integration with rural and remote communities.

Prof. Strasser first attended the WONCA World Conference in Vancouver in 1992. Feeling the synergy between the 70 or so rural practitioners attending the conference from many countries, Prof. Strasser decided to invite them to a meeting, where they quickly recognised a strong commonality through their shared purposes and experiences, particularly the difficulty of access to health services. They set about establishing the WONCA Working Party on Rural Practice, which Prof. Strasser chaired from 1992 until 2004.

Today, the organisation bridges isolated communities and global expertise through evidence, advocacy and a shared commitment to rural medicine. More than 130 countries are members.

Prof. Strasser's distinguished career includes Australian rural doctor and academic; Founding Dean Emeritus of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) University, Canada; and Emeritus Professor of Rural Health at the University of Waikato, New Zealand.

Prof. Strasser's passion, knowledge and participation are helping to guide and transform rural health. In his role as Senior Academic Advisor at RDN, Prof. Strasser commented at the Rural Health Pro National Rural & Remote Health Awards 2024:

"There is great strength in working together, in networking between rural and remote communities and health services. In fact, the people living in rural and remote communities have much in common with each other, even across state and international borders, more-so than they do with people who live in the big cities".

Read more about Prof. Strasser's Fellowship here: World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA).

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Related reading:

• Rural WONCA Assembly: Advancing the GRACE Initiative