Dr Daniel Manahan

2018 College Recipient. College of Medicine and Dentistry

Dr Daniel Manahan has dedicated his career to the care of rural and remote communities. He is currently the Director of Medical Services at Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service, with responsibility for 30 000 people across 26 locations and 90 000 square kilometres.

Following his graduation with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Queensland, Dr Manahan underwent rotations in Rockhampton, Emerald and Goondiwindi, obtaining credentials in obstetrics, anaesthetics and surgery, before being appointed to Stanthorpe Hospital in 1996, where he worked as a medical superintendent for many years.

From 2007 to 2015, he was the Foundation Medical Director of Queensland Health’s acclaimed Rural Generalist Pathway, which was devised to redress the lack of medical staff living and working in rural and remote Queensland. This role involved leading a team of rural doctors, educators and administrators across the state in developing training pathways to provide medical graduates with a supported career path to rural medicine, and rural communities with an appropriately skilled medical workforce.

Dr Manahan is passionate about developing and facilitating medical education and training opportunities for medical officers across rural and remote Queensland and saw the pathway grow from an initial cohort of 29 to the point where there are now 110 graduates of the pathway, with more than 330 currently in training. The Queensland Rural Generalist Pathway is seen by other jurisdictions as a template for the roll-out of the national Rural Generalist pathway and was recognised in 2016 by a Queensland Premier's Award for Excellence.

Dr Manahan is also on the Board of ROCKET+SHIP Pacific, an Australian-based non-profit health and development organisation with a vision of healthy Pacific communities, supported by strong and sustainable primary healthcare systems. ROCKET+SHIP stands for Remote Opportunities for Clinical Knowledge, Education and Training and Support for Health in the Pacific and was born out of the realisation that the health needs of Pacific island people were not being adequately met. His international work also includes clinical training in East Timor.

Closer to home, Dr Manahan was involved with the disaster responses during Cyclone Yasi and Cyclone Debbie.

Dr Daniel Manahan graduated from James Cook University with a Postgraduate Diploma of Rural and Remote Medicine in 2017.