Overview
Background
Professor Riitta Partanen is the Interim Dean of the Medical School, commencing in this role in January 2026.
For the preceding five years Prof Partanen was the Director of the Rural Clinical School based at the Hervey Bay Regional Clinical Unit. The Rural Clinical School (RCS) includes four Regional Clinical Units based in Bundaberg, Hervey Bay, Rockhampton and Toowoomba and the Rural and Remote Medicine Clinical Unit which includes over 50 communities across the southern half of Queensland. Additionally, the RCS has three Regional Training Hubs (RTH). They are the Central Queensland, Wide Bay and Southern Queensland RTHs. Prof Partanen contributed significantly to the establishment of the Central Queensland - Wide Bay Regional Medical Pathway and the Darling Downs - South West Medical Pathway enabling students to study medicine in its entirity in regional and rural Queensland.
Prof Partanen is a specialist GP and continues to be clinically active having already served the community of Maryborough, Qld since 1994.
As the inaugural Head of the Hervey Bay Regional Clinical Unit (HBRCU), she has been involved with UQ Rural Clinical School since 2005. Since then, her roles have also included: the Co-Director of Learning for the RCS, GP Academic Lead for HBRCU, Acting Head of the UQRCS, and the Academic Lead for Phase 2 (Years 3 &4) of the UQ Medical Program. She handed over the reins of the Head of the HBRCU in 2020 after 15 years, when she commenced as the Director, RCS.
Previously Prof Partanen has served as Board member and Chair of the Wide Bay Division of General Practice, member of RACGP Rural Medical Education Committee and is currently member of the RACGP Doctors for Women in Rural Medicine Committee and the Rural Doctor's Australia Association's Female Doctors Group. Prof Partanen is the Chair of the national FRAME (Federation of Rural Australian Medical Educators) Policy Group. Previously she was the FRAME co-delegate for the National Rural Health Alliance. She interested in contributing to policy development and innovations in medical education and training pathways so that rural communities have equitable access to health care, close to home at the time they need it.
Her research interests include rural medical workforce, rural medical education, rural training pathways and General Practice issues such as depression and liver disease. She is currently a PhD candidate exploring geographical narcissism during medical education and training and its impact on rural medical practice decisions.
Availability
- Professor Riitta Partanen is:
- Available for supervision
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery and Medical Science, The University of Queensland
- Postgraduate Diploma, Institution to be confirmed
Research interests
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Growing the rural medical workforce and factors that influence workplace location choices
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Rural medical education
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Rural end-to-end medical education and training pathways
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Supporting safe cessation of long-term antidepressants when there is no clinical indication for continued use and social prescribing in the management of depression
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To improve early HCC diagnosis by increasing cirrhosis detection and HCC surveillance rates using a readily implementable and cost-effective risk-stratification pathway in primary care
Research impacts
Prof Partanen is passionate about improving the health outcomes of rural people through the provision of high-quality medical education and training based in rural and regional communities. Her research is contributing to the growing body of evidence in the area of rural medical workforce, the factors that impact of choosing to become a rural doctor.
Her research into medical student teaching in the General Practice setting provides evidence that patients, GPs and students are very satisfied with the teaching consultation.
Her research into depression and long-term anti-depressant usage has identified the challenges GPs have in deprescribing and the importance of social prescribing in the management of depression.
Her doctoral research has found that the phenomonen of geographical narcissism does occur throughout the continuum of medical education and for some learners influences their workplace location decisions.
Works
Search Professor Riitta Partanen’s works on UQ eSpace
2009
Journal Article
Necessity breeds innovation: GPs help prevent an emergency department closure
Partanen, Riitta L., O'Brien, Maxine L. and Eley, Diann S. (2009). Necessity breeds innovation: GPs help prevent an emergency department closure. Australian Health Review, 33 (3), 467-471. doi: 10.1071/AH090467
2006
Conference Publication
Meeting the Challenge: GPs taking a leadership role working in Fraser Coast Emergency Departments
Partanen, Riitta, O'Brien, M and Eley, Diann (Stover) (2006). Meeting the Challenge: GPs taking a leadership role working in Fraser Coast Emergency Departments. QDGP Forum, Hervey Bay, Australia, June 2006.
Supervision
Availability
- Professor Riitta Partanen is:
- Available for supervision
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Media
Enquiries
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