Doctors of the Year announced at Blacktown and Mount Druitt hospitals

Mentorship, clinical excellence, wellbeing, and support for education are just a few key attributes of four Blacktown and Mount Druitt hospitals (BMDH) 2020 Doctors of the Year.

More than 200 votes were received in the categories of intern, resident, registrar and consultant of the year.

BMDH acting general manager Bobbi Henao Urrego congratulated all staff for their tireless efforts in what was a challenging year.

“We have so many talented, driven and passionate medical staff and I commend all our staff who go above and beyond each and every day,” Bobbi said.

The BMDH Doctors of the Year 2020 winners are:

Intern of the Year 2020 – Dr Vedant Dave

Resident of the Year 2020 – Dr Arun Ahulwalia

Registrar of the Year 2020 – Dr Mathew Economides

Consultant of the Year 2020 – Dr Danette Wright 

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Recently Dr Vedant Dave recently completed his internship at Blacktown Hospital and is keen to continue working with inpatients at the hospital.

“I’m honoured to be voted as the Intern of the Year and I’ll continue to keep Blacktown and Mount Druitt hospitals exciting places for people to work,” Dr Dave said.

Dr Ahulwalia has begun working as a surgical senior resident medical officer and will remain in the surgical field.

His award nomination described him as a “dependable, reliable and someone who genuinely cares about patients”.

“I’m surprised to be nominated and voted as Resident of the Year because there were so many caring, thoughtful and diligent residents at Blacktown and Mount Druitt hospitals,” Dr Ahulwalia said.

A dual anaesthetic and intensive care trainee, Dr Economides colleagues said he’s a welcome sight at any clinical emergency especially for the junior medical staff.

His colleagues describe him as a friendly, collegial and approachable person and has showed outstanding leadership and clinical performance.

“It was very unexpected and humbling to be nominated, let alone win,” Dr Economides said.

“I’ve always been very self-conscious about whether I’ve been doing a good job, so to learn that I hold the esteem of so many of my colleagues is a real honour.

“The credit from my clinical skill to my professional standards are things I inherited from innumerable supervisors and mentors, who were kind enough to teach and lead by example. I really hope I can pay that forward to the same degree.”

Colorectal surgeon and clinical superintendent of surgery, Dr Wright provides outstanding care for her patients and educates and inspires a new generation of junior medical officers in surgery.

She’s described by her peers as “lovely, engaging, a brilliant surgeon dedicated to improving patient care” and “utterly supportive and helps us navigate challenging times”.

“I was surprised to receive this award because 2020 was a challenging year for everyone in the medical profession and many people rose to those challenges in order to continue providing excellent patient care,” Dr Wright said.

“I feel that I should be sharing this accolade with many others and have enjoyed my first year at BMDH and I’m looking forward to continuing my role with the faculty into the future.”