Foster and Toora Medical Centres welcome 4 new doctors
We said a sad (but predicted) farewell to James O’Sullivan, who is continuing his GP training up the road in Leongatha for a year, but we are so fortunate in ushering in 4 other doctors.
Following is a brief bio which they have written about themselves as way of introduction. Please make them welcome; they are most definitely part of the future of FMC and hopefully most are here for years!
Hello! My name is Nicky Waugh. I grew up in Yarram but have lived in and around Melbourne for the last 12 years. My partner Lachlan – a music teacher at Yarram Secondary College, my dog Pax – an energetic chocolate lab cross and I moved to Toora at the start of this year. In between unpacking we’ve enjoyed reacquainting ourselves with all the local beaches. I did most of my medical training on the Mornington Peninsula in hospitals and medical clinics. Outside of medicine I take any opportunity to go travelling (pre covid of course!) and have visited lots of different countries. I enjoy camping and hiking – so am excited to be so close to the Prom. Lachlan and I both have family in the area, we’re keen to get involved in the community and are planning to stay here long term. I’ve worked in General Practice for the last 4 years and am looking forward to the challenges and rewards of rural practice.
Hi, My name is Dr Anand Pawar, GP from NSW who recently moved to Foster and
recently bought a house to be a part of the local community. My partner and I have a
cute German Short Haired Pointer puppy who needs plenty of training. We are happy to
receive tips on how to train him.
I love fishing, camping, playing a variety of sports and tinkering in the garden. We are
open to learning from those green thumbs out there as we would like to establish our
own home garden. I look forward to getting to know the community and being a part of
it.
Dr Jeewie (Jeewanthie Welikumbura) is a GP Registrar who began working at Foster
and Toora Medical Centre in February 2022. She was born in the little tropical paradise
of Sri Lanka; and her family uprooted their life to move to Australia 15 years ago. Since
then she has been living a nomadic lifestyle moving from city to city; wherever study/
work took her. Jeewie completed medical school at National University of Ireland in the
beautiful coastal city of Galway. Prior to this she worked at Monash Health and has also
briefly worked in Central Gippsland, LaTrobe Valley and Bass Coast regions. Jeewie fell
in love with Gippsland while doing her clinical elective.
“Growing up I wanted to become a lot of things.. a lecturer, scientist, physician, surgeon,
chef; the list goes on. I could never quite settle on one. So I decided to go with the
default option.. which was becoming a bit of everything.”
She enjoys all aspects of General Practice, but is particularly interested in Chronic
Disease Management, Aged Care, Obstetrics, and Surgical Assisting. Outside of work she
enjoys arts and crafts projects, design, reading, dancing, exploring different cultures and
cuisine.
Samara Cua was born in Australia but grew up in the Philippines. She returned to
Australia back in 2011 to complete the rest of her high school and then went on to study
Medicine at Monash University. Samara completed most of her university clinical
placements in North Western Victoria where she fell in love with the country lifestyle
and community. When it came to deciding where to go for GP training, she and her
partner (who grew up in the area and is also a doctor) decided it would be nice to head
back to South Gippsland. They have always enjoyed all their weekend holidays to the
area and thought it would be great to come back and work as a doctor for the local
community. Outside of medicine, Samara enjoys running on the rail trail, walking and
swimming at the local beaches, and hiking at the Prom. She and her partner also have a
black Labrador puppy named “Willow” whom you might see from time to time enjoying
the smells and scents on the streets of Foster.