Gordian Fulde

Gordian Fulde
Born
Gordian Ward Oskar Fulde

(1948-10-03) October 3, 1948 (age 76)
NationalityAustralian
EducationBachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery (1971)
Alma materUniversity of Sydney
OccupationDoctor
Years active1971–present
EmployerSt. Vincent's Hospital, Sydney
TelevisionKings Cross ER: St Vincent's Hospital
SpouseLesley Forster
Children2
Parents
  • Edwald Adolf Oskar Fulde (father)
  • Marie Luise Fulde (mother)
AwardsSenior Australian of the Year (2016)
Medical career
ProfessionDoctor
FieldEmergency Medicine
InstitutionsSt. Vincent's Hospital, Sydney

Gordian Ward Fulde AO (born 1948) is an Australian emergency medicine specialist, the founder of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine, and was the director of the emergency department of St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney for 35 years, retiring in 2018.[1][2] He was named Senior Australian of the Year in 2016.[3]

Early life

Fulde was born in Germany in 1948 to Edwald Adolf Oskar Fulde, a thoracic surgeon, and Marie Luise Fulde, a pathologist. He migrated to Australia with his parents and older brother, Lothar, when he was one year old, settling in Bellevue Hill, a suburb in Sydney's east.[4]

Career

Fulde studied medicine at the University of Sydney and completed his internship at St Vincent's Hospital. He trained in general surgery, but after taking up a position at Sutherland Hospital that involved supervising the hospital's emergency department, he discovered that he preferred emergency medicine to surgery. He was the third person to register for the examinations in emergency medicine established by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine in the United Kingdom in 1983, and the first person to pass them. He founded the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine in 1984.[5]

Fulde was appointed the Director of Emergency at St Vincent's Hospital in 1983 and held the role until his retirement in 2018;[6] at which time he was the longest-serving director of an Australian emergency department.[7] St Vincent's Hospital is regarded as having one of the busiest emergency departments in Australia[6] and was the setting of reality television series Kings Cross ER, in which Fulde featured prominently.[5] He was also the director of the Sydney Hospital emergency department[8] and a professor of emergency medicine at the University of New South Wales and the University of Notre Dame Australia.[6] He was a strong proponent of the Sydney lockout laws introduced in 2014 to combat alcohol-induced violence.[9]

Fulde was named Senior Australian of the Year in 2016.[10]

Fulde was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2017 for "distinguished service to emergency medicine as a clinician and administrator, to medical education, and to the community as an advocate for a range of public health issues."[11]

Personal life

Fulde met his wife (Susan) Lesley Forster[4] when she was studying medicine at UNSW (MB BS '75).[9] Lesley Forster trained as a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators and Public Health,[12] having served as the Director of Medical Administration at St Vincent's and having established the NSW Trauma System and Retrieval Services and the Delineation of Roles in Hospitals,[13] and served as the Head of the UNSW Rural Clinical School.[14] She is the inaugural Dean of Rural Medicine of Charles Sturt University.[13] Their daughters, Sascha and Tiffany Fulde, are also doctors;[4] the former is an emergency specialist and the latter is an anaesthetist.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Dr Gordian Fulde to retire as head of St Vincent's emergency department". 7 News Sydney. 12 March 2018.
  2. ^ Laughlin, Shaya (16 March 2017). "How one of our busiest doctors survives". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  3. ^ Aston, Heath (25 January 2016). "Sydney emergency doctor Gordian Fulde named Senior Australian of the Year". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  4. ^ a b c Dow, Steve (20 December 2009). "The right man". The Sun-Herald. Archived from the original on 27 April 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  5. ^ a b Coopes, Amy (25 January 2016). "Senior Australian of the Year award for emergency medicine pioneer". UNSW Newsroom. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  6. ^ a b c "Professor Gordian Fulde". Radio National. 9 February 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  7. ^ Aston, Heath (25 January 2016). "Sydney emergency doctor Gordian Fulde named Senior Australian of the Year". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  8. ^ "Home".
  9. ^ a b c Lowes, Alana (23 May 2016). "Gordian Fulde: Game Changer". The Retiree. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  10. ^ "Professor Gordian Fulde". Australian of the Year Awards. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  11. ^ "OFFICER (AO) IN THE GENERAL DIVISION OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA" (PDF). Office of the Governor-General. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  12. ^ "Lesley Forster - School of Rural Medicine". Charles Sturt University.
  13. ^ a b "Dr Lesley Forster appointed inaugural Dean of Rural Medicine - CSU News". 7 November 2019.
  14. ^ "Senior Australian of the Year award for emergency medicine pioneer". UNSW. 25 January 2016.