VIC/TAS State Advisory Committee

Dr Jurstine Daruwalla MBBS, PhD is a HPB/General Surgical Fellow at Northern Health in Victoria. She completed a combined MBBS/PhD program at the University of Melbourne in 2011. She is passionate about global surgery and would ultimately like to join Médecins Sans Frontières. Having undertaken surgical electives in India, South Africa and Fiji, she is familiar with working in challenging environments with limited resources. The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a unique set of challenges to General Surgery, as well as impacts on training and resource allocation. She is currently undertaking research on the effects of the lockdown on Acute General Surgery presentations at the Northern.

Dr Alexandra Seidel MBBS(Hons), BMedSci, DCH, CertWH, FRACGP is a rural GP and owner of three practices in Tasmania's Huon Valley and on Bruny Island. Dr Seidel has over 10 years' experience in general practice as a GP, GP Supervisor, medical student educator and visiting Rural Medical Practitioner. She has been a member of the Tasmanian State Advisory Committee for MDA National for 2 years and was previously a board member of the Rural Doctors Association of Australia, President of the Rural Doctors Association of Tasmania, a member of the RACGP's Expert Committee on General Practice Advocacy and Funding and the Department of Health's GP Roundtable.

Dr Christopher M Stokes MBBS BMedSci PGDipSurgAnat obtained his undergraduate Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery at the University of Melbourne. He has been a member of the Victorian State Advisory Committee since 2019. Chris currently works as an Orthopaedic registrar and has a strong interest in leadership, management and the welfare of junior doctors. 

Chris continues to be involved with education and research with numerous academic publications at international level. He also regularly presents his work at scientific meetings. His clinical governance experience includes lead authorship of national perioperative management guidelines for the Arthroplasty Society of Australia. 

As a personable and well-rounded individual, Chris’s contributions to the State Advisory Committee include development strategy, risk analysis and advocacy for Doctors in Training.