Really Interesting Women - the podcast

Episode 119

Associate Professor Michelle Telfer
MBBS (Hons.) FRACP GAICD

Michelle Telfer, through her work as an expert in adolescent medicine and through her development and expansion of the Royal Children's Hospital Gender Service for 10 years, is one of the best placed professionals in the country to talk about transgender and gender diverse children and adolescents in Australia and their need for  improved access to medical and mental health care.

It's a long way from when her talent as a gymnast was spotted when she was 5 years old. But when you hear her speak, you can feel the determination and resilience that would have been needed to succeed as a gymnast that is still part of her ongoing journey to succeed now in an area that attracts, at times, extremely harsh  and often misplaced criticism.

Michelle Telfers was an elite gymnast who competed in the 1990 Commonwealth Games and 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. She came back to finish her final year of high school and was successful enough to go on to study medicine and then went on to specialise as a paediatrician, receiving Membership of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 2010. She was the Director of the Department of Adolescent Medicine at Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne. She was also the Director of the Royal Children’s Hospital Gender Service and has been instrumental in the development and expansion of the clinical and research programs amidst rising demand for trans-specific health care in children and adolescents. She has recently been appointed Chief of Medicine for the Royal Children’s Hospital. 

It's an important discussion as the commentary we often see or read, is rarely coming from those who practice at the coal face, so to speak. 

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