A medical intern who helped overhaul an IT program for clinical staff has been named the recipient of GV Health’s inaugural Michael Kamenjarin Encouragement Award.
Dr Harvey Chong was recognised for his work on ColdFusion throughout the past year, which saw a number of changes including streamlining processes for how patient information is stored.
The annual award is named in honour of general surgeon Dr Michael Kamenjarin, who worked at GV Health from 2006 until 2015 and died from cancer in 2021.
Dr Kamenjarin was known for his dedication to education and support for junior doctors and surgical registrars at GV Health.
Dr Chong also assisted training staff on the new processes, that mean that junior doctors will spend less time uploading information such as pathology results manually, leading to better outcomes for patients at GV Health.
Dr Chong was presented with the award by GV Health director of intern training and emergency department senior medical officer Dr Carolyn Kamenjarin at a small ceremony at GV Health.
“We hope this award will encourage interns and junior doctors to take a leap and think about ways to improve processes and how we work together, which will ultimately improve patient care,” Dr Kamenjarin said.
“A fitting thing is that Michael was quite interested in technology and IT systems, so I think Harvey is a great inaugural recipient.
“Harvey has shown amazing drive, inspiration and intelligence in the way he’s been able to improve ColdFusion.
“He has also shown that he’s quite supportive of fellow interns and has been able to provide educational resources for the new systems he has implemented. He has a great future and we’re very proud to be able to present the award to him.”
Accepting his award, Dr Chong acknowledged it was a collective effort.
“It all started by trying to make the everyday lives and the work of doctors, nurses and allied health staff a little bit easier,” he said.
“It’s not a single-person effort, it takes a team and that includes Jeremy Fowler, who works tirelessly behind the scenes.
“He took my little ideas and suggestions and was able to make that into something that made sense.”
GV Health chief executive Matt Sharp said the award was a time to reflect on the impact of Dr Michael Kamenjarin but also look to what GV Health would become.
“It’s significant as both Michael and Carolyn have had long involvements with GV Health,” he said.
“This is a fitting award and something that will be held in high regard that is focused on junior doctors and the leadership and support for them in that phase of their career.”