AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton and Dr Cathy Hutton.

Dr Cathy Hutton of the Eastbrooke Family Clinic Essendon has been inducted into the AMA Roll of Fellows at the AMA National Conference in Melbourne.

AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, presented the award and stated that those members who had been inducted were “distinguished representatives of the profession” and that “the new Fellows have all excelled in their medical careers, across many specialties”.

“At the same time, they have dedicated themselves to working for the AMA to improve conditions for doctors and to make the Australian health system work more effectively for patients and communities”.

Dr Cathy Hutton graduated from University of Melbourne in 1978 with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery. The following year, Dr Hutton started an internship and junior residency at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne and on completion two years later, started working as a Family Medicine RMO at Southern Memorial Hospital, Caulfield. In 1983, Dr Hutton worked in the United Kingdom and received a Diploma of the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and spent two years overseas gaining experience in this field.

On returning to Australia, Dr Hutton began working at the East Preston Community Health Centre as a General Practitioner until 1990. During this time, Dr Hutton became a Fellow at the Royal College of General Practitioners in 1986.

Dr Hutton began working at Margaret Street Clinic, Moonee Ponds, in 1990, a practice that covered all aspects of general practice, with specialisation in women’s health, shared antenatal care and postnatal care of mother and baby, mental health, paediatrics and care of homeless women. In 2009, Dr Hutton and the other doctors of the practice moved to Eastbrooke Medical Clinic, Essendon, and continue to offer high quality general practice.

Dr Hutton became a Board Member of the North West Melbourne Division of General Practice in 2002 and joined AMA Victoria Council, a position she still holds.
In 2005 Dr Hutton took on the role of Chair of AMA Victoria Section of General Practice and Board Member of Regina Coeli Community, a community for homeless women. These roles continued for three years.

In 2006, Dr Hutton was appointed to AMA Council of General Practice and to the Executive Committee the following year.

In 2008, Dr Hutton joined the Board of Peter MacCallum Hospital, where she is currently Chair of the Quality Committee, was appointed Vice President of AMA Victoria Board and completed a Masters of Public Health at the University of Melbourne.

She is currently Deputy Chair of AMA Council of General Practice. She is AMA nominee to the National Immunisation Committee and the Horvath review Working Party of Experts and Implementation Committee.
Dr Hutton is actively involved in General Practice research. In 2007 she was a Foundation Member of the Victorian Practice Based Research Network and is still on the committee. She has been actively involved in research including Childhood Obesity, Same-day Appointments and the Primary Care Collaborative Cancer Trials. In 2011 she was chosen for the award for Excellent Contribution to Research by a General Practitioner by the University of Melbourne.

She supports reduced inequality in healthcare and is a member of the Victorian Women in Mental health Network and has promoted changes, supported by AMA Victoria, that are now being implemented, to ensure safety for women in psychiatric wards.

Dr Hutton has 28 years experience in General Practice, in both private and community health and is currently working 8 sessions a week.

Dr Hutton’s support to AMA Victoria is ongoing and she has been active in the many roles undertaken since becoming a member as well as leading in many other roles in the wider medical community. It is for this reason that she is a most worthy candidate for admittance to the Roll of Fellows.