Meet your Federal Council — Dr Anju Aggarwal

"Doc, finish your coffee first!", says my 95-year young patient when he is my first patient in the morning and I start seeing him — Care and Connection is the core of General Practice.

With a 30-year medical career, including 25 years in general practice, I am presently treating patients in Sydney’s western suburbs caring for many people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

My own career began as a medical student in India from which I migrated to Australia in 1991. I worked across hospitals in Adelaide, Launceston and Sydney, gaining experience in aged care, psychiatry, paediatrics, antenatal care, surgery, and emergency medicine.

Since then, I have had the great pleasure of caring for patients including entire multigenerational families and providing longitudinal care for my wonderful patients who put so much of their love and trust in me to care for them and their families.

I believe general practice is the bedrock of our healthcare system and as I see it — or ‘c’ it — I describe general practice’s strengths as the '5 cs': continuous, comprehensive, coordinated, cost-effective, and convenient care.

I decided I wanted to be on the AMA Federal Council with the belief that if we doctors want to bring change in healthcare for the better, then we need to be in the driver’s seat pushing for reform. As GPs we know what our patients and fellows need and how it can be achieved in cost-effective ways while delivering the best quality care. Doctors are advocates in healthcare and must be represented in decision-making processes to drive improvements.

Being at the table with AMA Federal Councillors means the opportunity to express my views and offer my perspectives while also learning from my diverse peers on Federal Council.

I am passionate about community health, and give volunteer presentations on cancer awareness, osteoporosis, adolescent health, child and maternal health, and to "GPs in Schools" programs.

As well as my AMA roles in Federal Council and with AMA (NSW), I also collaborate with the NSW Multicultural media conference, NSW Multicultural Health Communication Services, and Pink Sari Inc.

At the end of the day, the next generation is our future. I am glad both my own and my husband's life, who is a Paediatrician, has been an inspiration to each of our boys. Nav is a Hand Surgeon and Ashwin is working as Resident Medical Officer. The best part of our week is when both our boys are able to join us for dinner.