WHA Medal of Distinction 2023 Recipient

Professor Susan Walker provides exemplary care every day to women facing the most complex pregnancies. She is renowned for her compassionate care, sharp intellect, a perfectly timed sense of humour, infectious enthusiasm, and exceptional commitment to her patients. She is adored by the women and families she cares for, and by the obstetricians, midwives and geneticists she works with.

Professor Walker founded and continues to lead the Perinatal Medicine Unit at Mercy Hospital, a leading national centre of maternal-fetal medicine. This position provides an opportunity for Professor Walker to not only provide on-the-ground patient care, but lead research programs tackling the most grave of conditions facing pregnant women. Being a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Melbourne, she is a fierce proponent of high-quality clinical teaching in Women’s Health. She is deeply committed to mentoring the next generation of clinicians and academics.

At Mercy Health, Susan has additional leadership responsibilities in strategy development, quality and safety initiatives, model of care planning and delivery, leadership in high-risk pregnancy care for North-eastern Victoria as well as multidisciplinary and vocational teaching.

At the pointy end of complex pregnancy care, Professor Walker is a surgeon and Clinical Director of the Victorian Fetal Therapy Service, providing world-class care to patients whose unborn babies require surgical interventions just to survive.

In recognition of exceptional clinical and academic leadership, and outstanding contribution to maternal medicine through research, education and compassionate clinical care, Professor Susan Walker is the 2023 WHA Medal of Distinction Recipient.