Dr Keren Witcombe (GP)
- Name
- Dr Keren Lee Witcombe
- Qualifications
- MBBS UWA 1989
- Dip Anaes UK 1993
- DRANZCOG 1994
- FRACGP 1995
- GDNEM Swinburne University 2001
- GCRRM UWA 2015
- FASLM 2019
- Occupation
- General Practitioner (GP)
- Obstetrics and Gynaecologist
- Gender
- Female
- Medical Specialties
- General Practice
Qualifications Dr Witcombe graduated from the University of WA in 1989. After her internship and residency at Royal Perth Hospital, Dr Witcombe did her basic GP training term in George Town, Tasmania followed by 6 months of paediatrics at PMH and 12 months in the UK achieving a Diploma of Anaesthetics. In 1993 she returned to WA to complete her Diploma of Obstetrics at OPH, and then her rural GP training in Kalgoorlie, where she practiced procedural obstetrics and anaesthetics, delivering up to 150 babies a year, and obtained her Fellowship of General Practice. About
After meeting, and later marrying, Dr Stuart Paterson at a rural medicine conference in Kalgoorlie, she moved to the Perth Hills, continuing to practice public and private obstetrics at Swan Districts and Kalamunda Hospitals, whilst working at Greenmount and Darlington Medical Centres, raising their young family and completing a 2 year Graduate Diploma of Applied Science in Nutritional and Environmental Science from Swinburne University. Dr Witcombe and Dr Paterson moved to Fremantle in 2002, Dr Witcombe working initially at Hampton Medical Centre, then Ellen St Family Practice from its inception in 2003, with Dr Paterson joining the team in 2011. Dr Witcombe has also worked for the RFDS Rural Women Doctors Program in Wagin, at GPAH Mt Lawley and Murdoch, and was involved in the Australian Primary Care Collaboratives program. She currently works part-time for the Health Department as a perinatal mortality investigator.
Dr Witcombe has two adult children. She also enjoys walking, reading, and travelling with her family. In recent years they have travelled in Ireland, Egypt, Italy, Turkey and Japan. She is a member of Doctors for the Environment, Amnesty, Oxfam, The Greens and Greenpeace. She is also a bit of a history documentary tragic. She loves the village atmosphere of Fremantle and the community atmosphere at The Garden Medical Family Clinic.
Special Interests
Women’s Health Though no longer delivering babies, Dr Witcombe enjoys seeing women for pre-conception advice, antenatal shared care, contraceptive advice including long acting contraceptive implants and IUD insertions, sexual health and menopause advice. She holds a DRANZCOG.
Nutritional and Environmental Medicine Dr Witcombe practices a down to earth style of nutritional medicine and is keen to help patients use diet, exercise and lifestyle change to improve their health and that of their families and community. She is a member of the Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine and holds a GradDipAppScrNutEnvMed and FASLM.
Quality Prescribing Dr Witcombe is keen to avoid polypharmacy and the prescribing cascade. She regularly completes clinical audits and activities and values annual Home Medicine Reviews, undertaken in conjunction with her patients’ pharmacists, as means of de-prescribing where feasible. Along with her colleagues at The Garden, she avoids seeing pharmaceutical company reps.
Chronic Disease Management Dr Witcombe enjoys applying nutritional and environmental medicine and quality prescribing principles to the management of chronic disease. She finds GP Management Plans helpful in managing her patients with chronic disease, as well as the associated EPC Allied Health referrals.
Teaching and Examining Dr Witcombe supervises medical students at The Garden, is a clinical adjunct lecturer for Notre Dame and is a question writer, examiner and standard setter for the RACGP fellowship examinations.
- Affiliated Clinics
- The Garden Family Medical Clinic
- Fremantle Women's Health Centre
- Affiliated Universities
- University of Western Australia
- University of Notre Dame Australia
Practice Locations
Perth
- The Garden Family Medical Clinic
- Open After Hours
- Address
- Unit 9, 170 Murdoch Drive
Murdoch WA 6150
Australia
- Phone
- 08 6186 7992
- Fax
- 08 6186 7993
- Fremantle Women's Health Centre
- Address
- 114 South Street
Fremantle WA 6160
Australia
- Phone
- 08 9431 0500
- Fax
- 08 9430 7862
