Dr. Mohamed Khadra is having a successful and varied career as a leader in Education and Medicine internationally and in Australia. He has a degree in Medicine, a PhD and Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. In addition, he has a postgraduate degree in computing and a Masters of Education and is a renowned educationalist and academic. His roles have included:
- Inaugural Chair of Surgery at the Australian National University;
- Pro Vice Chancellor for Health, Design and Science at the University of Canberra;
- Professor of Surgery and Head of the School of Rural Health for the University of New South Wales;
- Chairman and co-Founder of a new Higher Education Provider, the Institute of Technology Australia.
As a young intern Mohamed Khadra encountered all the standard obstacles - 56-hour shifts, cruel superiors, internecine hospital politics and soul-destroying choices made on behalf of patients. But there were some obstacles of his own creation after he started to question the accepted wisdom about when and how doctors, and the hospitals they work in, keep critically and terminally ill patients alive. His nascent beliefs would be put irrevocably to the test when he became seriously ill himself, but his own experience only firmed his opinions and determined the way he, as a Professor of Surgery, ultimately shaped, the surgeons of the future.
His published book, Making the Cut (Random House), follows Dr. Khadra's career in five parts, from internship, hardship and Fellowship, to practice and his own illness. His journey - from being the son of hardworking Lebanese immigrants to Professor of Surgery, educator and now best-selling author - has lessons for all of us, about the value of hard work, of dreaming, of setting goals and the resilience and determination needed to achieve those goals.
Charming, motivational, funny, warm and wise, Dr. Khadra is an engaging public speaker who can enthuse and inspire school children and corporate leaders alike modifying his tone and the topic in order to speak to the specific audience. Dr Khadra can make an audience laugh and cry, and leaves them uplifted, moved and eager to hear more.
