‘With a good team, practice management is not hard, whether one practice or five’: AAPM Practice Manager of the Year

Dr Keshav Dhawan (PhD) has been named Practice Manager of the Year by the Australian Association of Practice Management.

Dr Dhawan originally trained as a dentist in his home country of India. When financial pressure stopped him from pursuing dentistry in Australia, he decided to remain in the medical field and retrained as a practice manager.

“My passion for healthcare never left me,” he told AusDoc after receiving the award last week.

“Moving from India, where you can see that many people can’t afford healthcare, and seeing how things work differently here, I wanted to make a difference so people here can afford it.”

In addition to managing three clinics — Essence Healthcare, East Keilor Clinic and Hume Medical Centre, all in Melbourne — he is a mentor with the Western Victoria Primary Health Network and a surveyor for Australian General Practice Accreditation Limited.

“Taking on challenges is not stressful for me,” he said.

“I love working with different people. You learn different things and you enhance your skills.”

He thanked his partner Maddie for supporting him and said his next goal was to own a practice.

“I always believe that if you can find a good team, practice management is not hard, whether it is managing one practice or five.

“Just show empathy, listen to your staff, and understand what your team and patients actually need.”

The prize for Allied Health Management went to Deb Constance of Allied Health Hub Morayfield in Queensland, while Multidisciplinary Practice Manager of the Year went to Tyson Cowan of Sydney Respiratory Specialist and Mt Kuring-Gai Medical Centre, both in Sydney.

Amelia Mahavir of Sydney Cardiovascular Centre was named Specialist Practice Manager of the Year.