IAAH Regional Update Oceania - May 2019
IAAH Regional Vice-President for Oceania,
Jenny Proimos, is a consultant paediatrician and adolescent health physician in the Department of Adolescent Medicine at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. She has worked in the Victorian Government for the past decade as their Chief Medical Advisor for child and adolescent health, a role that encompassed children from birth through to young adulthood. During this time, she led the establishment of school health primary health services in disadvantaged schools in Victoria, ensuring that young people have access to adolescent-friendly, confidential health care.
She was President of the Division of Paediatrics and Child Health at the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, the organisation that trains and credentials all paediatricians in Australia and New Zealand from 2007-2010. During this time, she championed adolescent medicine within the College, which lead to its recognition as a specialty in Australia. She has been a past President of the International Chapter of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine.
She is a strong believer in the power of young people, having spent seven years on the board of the Foundation for Young Australians (FYA), a non-government organisation that supports the next generation of young people, who FYA believes are going to rethink the world and create a better future.
She is a proud member of the Australian Association for Adolescent Health (AAAH Ltd), which has the vision to bring “young people and professionals together to promote the health and wellbeing of adolescents and young adults throughout Australia, through local, national and international connections and collaborations”. Its strategic goals include youth engagement, effective use of social media, advocacy work and networking through conferences.