Associate Professor Joe McGirr

Has worked in clinical medicine and senior health administration in south west rural and regional NSW for more than twenty years. Originally practised clinically as a specialist in Emergency Medicine before making a career in health administration, becoming Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Murray Area Health Service and then Director of Clinical Operations for the Greater Southern Area Health Service. Is a fellow of both the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators and has worked closely with patients, communities and clinicians on a range of issues affecting health services. Played a critical role in the establishment of one of the first rural clinical schools in Australia in Wagga Wagga and oversees the medical school campuses in Wagga Wagga, Lithgow and Ballarat

Health Service Economics, Policy and Management

Rural workforce, climate change, health systems and management, osteoporosis, orthopaedics

Purcell, R. and McGirr, J (2014). Preparing rural general practitiones and health services for climate change and extreme weather. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 22: 8-14

Northey, L C, Bhardway, G, Curran, S and McGirr, J. (2014). Eye Trauma Epidemiology in Regional Australia. Ophthalmic Epidemiology, Early Online, 1-10 DOI: 10.3109/09286586.2014.928825

Weber, B, Seal, A, McGirr, J and Fielding, K. (2014). Case series of elective instrumented posterior lumbar spinal fusions demonstrating a low incidence of venous thromboembolism. ANZ Journal of Surgery. doi: 10.1111/ans.12702

Buckley, D, Curtis, P and McGirr, J. (2010). Effect of GP after hours clinic on emergency department presentations. Medical Journal of Australia, 192; 448-451

McGirr, J. Rural Medical Workforce, Premier’s Roundtable on Health Workforce, Nepean, April 2004

McGirr, J. The Science of Performance. Rural Critical Care Conference 2008 Keynote address. 2008

McGirr, J. Caring Together and Clinical Engagement. Rural Critical Care Conference 2009

Purcell, R and McGirr, J. Rural General Practitioner Recommendations on Extreme Weather, Climate Change, and Health (Presentation), Rural Medicine Australia, Fremantle, October 2012

McGirr, J Rural Clinical Schools and the Private Sector, NSW Rural Health and Research Congress (Presentation), November 2012

Northey, L, Bhardway, G, Curran, S and McGirr, J Epidemiology of Eye Trauma Presenting to a Regional Hospital Emergency Department and Ophthalmology Service (Poster), 44th Annual Scientific Congress of the Royal Australasian College of Ophthalmology, October, 2012

Purcell, R and McGirr, J Rural General Practitioner Recommendations on Extreme Weather, Climate Change, and Health (Poster), NSW Rural Health and Research Conference November 2012

Purcell, R and McGirr, J. Preparing Rural GPs and health services for climate change and extreme weather. Environment and Health, Basel, Switzerland, August 2013

Wan, M, Devitt, P and McGirr, J. Developing rurally focussed online modules using the interactive e-Medici platform to enhance medical students’ learning and immediate feedback. AMEE (Association for Medical Education in Europe), Milan, August 2014.

Member Australian Medical Association
Australian Hospitals and Health Association
Fellow Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators
Fellow Australasian College for Emergency Medicine

Cancer Council of NSW Board member 2014
Member of the Western Regional Advisory Committee 2011-2014

Winner of the Bernard Nicholson Memorial Prize of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators