Our Doctors: Dr caroline murtagh

Caroline originally trained in Ireland, graduating from University College Cork in 2005. She relocated to Australia in 2008 in order to continue her post-graduate training. After spending a number of years working at Barwon Health, Caroline completed her formal GP training in Geelong. She became a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (FRACGP) in 2012 and subsequently completed a number of postgraduate diplomas in Palliative Care, Child Health and Dermatology.

Caroline’s interest in Palliative Care was sparked while completing her initial diploma and so she decided to move to complete her fellowship training. She trained at various sites across Melbourne and became a Fellow of the Australasian Chapter of Palliative Medicine (FAChPM) in 2015.

In 2016 Caroline completed a 1 year fellowship at Barwon Health, with the research component of her fellowship focusing on cancer cachexia. Caroline is one of a handful of palliative care specialists in Australia with expertise in the management of patient’s with cachexia.

“ Caroline is a passionate patient advocate and believes in the availability of a holistic model of care to all patients, focused on minimizing patient suffering and maintaining patient dignity throughout their illness.”

Caroline is also keenly aware of the importance of contributing to the promotion of palliative care through education. During her fellow year in Geelong she pioneered a sub- regional education support programme for service providers with no direct access to tertiary palliative care, which is still in operation.

In addition to Palliative Care, Caroline works part-time as a General Practitioner at Lara Specialist Centre, located at Building 2, 19- 21 Station Lake Road in Lara. She now has over 10 years experience working across both rural and metropolitan settings and is looking forward to many more years working in the Greater Geelong Region. Outside of work, Caroline is happily married to Dr. John Daly, an Emergency Medicine Specialist in Geelong. They have recently bought a property and Caroline hopes to maintain her work- life balance through learning how to grow grapes and discover inventive ways to irrigate a field with no natural water source.