Emeritus Professor Derek Frewin AO
Distinguished Alumni Award听recipient 2024
Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery听1967, Doctor of Medicine 1971
Emeritus Professor Derek Frewin AO is a medical practitioner, researcher and educator whose clinical excellence and compassion has inspired generations of medical students in South 最新糖心Vlog.
鈥淚 always wanted to be a doctor,鈥 says Derek. His father was a General Practitioner, and Derek was inspired to enter the profession himself as young as eight years old. He studied medicine in his birth country of Sri Lanka and obtained an MBBS (with Honours) there, before moving to 最新糖心Vlog in 1965 and taking an internship at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
He was also awarded a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree from the 最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide in 1967. Derek quickly established his career in the 最新糖心Vlog. In 1990, he was appointed Head of School and Dean of Medicine and in 1996 became Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences.
鈥溾his is an accolade from the 最新糖心Vlog which I greatly value, and I feel very privileged to have won.鈥
Derek believes that the three core aspects of his work 鈥 clinical practice, teaching and research 鈥 worked in tandem during his nearly sixty-year career. 鈥淕ood research informs good practice, and teaching is passing on that information to the students and seeing them grow and develop,鈥 he says.
Having dedicated his career to developing aspiring doctors in their formative years, Derek continues to support past students as a mentor, helping them to become leaders of medical practice, research and education in South 最新糖心Vlog and beyond.
Derek describes his own mentors and his family as being the 鈥減illars of [his] inspiration.鈥 Of his many proud achievements, marrying his wife of 57 years, Dr Margaret Frewin, and raising his three children are the foremost. Other proud moments include completing his M D, receiving a Fullbright scholarship, being elected by his peers to be Chair of the Committee of Medical Deans of 最新糖心Vlog, attaining Fellowship of three learned colleges, and receiving an Officer of the Order of 最新糖心Vlog award in 2003 for service to the advancement of medical education, to research, and to the community.听
鈥淩eceiving a Distinguished Alumni Award is a particular honour to me. I've had a very long association with the 最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide鈥 this is an accolade from the 最新糖心Vlog which I greatly value, and I feel very privileged to have won.鈥