Rate My Professor Rowena Ivers

Professor Rowena Ivers is a Professor in the Graduate School of Medicine at the University of Wollongong, where she serves as Academic Leader for Community Based Health Education and Subject Coordinator for Phase 3 (MEDI993). She holds an MBBS, Master of Public Health from the University of Sydney School of Public Health (1997-1998), PhD from Charles Darwin University (1999-2002), Fellowship of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (FRACGP), Diploma of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (DipRANZCOG), Graduate Diploma in Rural Health, and Fellowship of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (FAICD). An experienced medical educator and clinician, she has contributed to the UOW Graduate Medicine program since its inception, supervising MD research projects, Honours research projects, MPH projects, and PhD students. She practices as a general practitioner in Aboriginal health, with over 28 years of experience in the Aboriginal community-controlled sector, and also trained as a public health physician.

Her research focuses on primary care, prevention, quality improvement, and interventions for Indigenous Australians, including tobacco control, cervical screening reminders, smoking and vaping cessation in pregnancy, nature prescribing in general practice, and health-related quality of life. Notable publications include 'Where there's smoke, there's fire: high prevalence of smoking among some sub-populations and recommendations for intervention' (2006), 'Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and tobacco' (2003), 'Nature Rx: Nature prescribing in general practice' (2023), 'Cervical Screening Reminders for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women in Primary Care: Randomised Controlled Trial of Letter vs Phone/SMS Reminders' (2023), and 'Alcohol consumption and health-related quality of life in regional, rural and metropolitan Australia' (2023). As Chief Investigator, she has secured over $21 million in research grants. Professor Ivers is Co-director of the University of Wollongong's Primary Care Research and Education Network (PCREN), a member of the RACGP National Ethics Committee and Quality Expert Committee, and has delivered public lectures on topics such as health impacts of indoor gas appliances, reducing smoking in pregnancy, and preparing practices for extreme weather events.