Dr Karen Kiang, a clinical paediatrician in the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (VVED), has been selected for the 2025 MacHSR (Masters in Health Services Research) Future Leaders Fellowship program.
This significant achievement reflects her dedication to advancing health equity, innovation, and environmental sustainability in healthcare.
“The fellowship offers protected research time, which is critical to ensure that my project is given the thought and attention that it deserves. I hope this opportunity helps me establish research independence and serves as a springboard for future projects and funding,” Dr Kiang said.
The fellowship program is open to fully qualified clinicians (doctors, nurses and allied health professionals) who are keen to use Health Services Research to explore an evidence-based solution to a practical healthcare problem that is pertinent to their health service.
Dr Kiang’s passion lies in addressing access and equity issues in healthcare, particularly for underserved populations, including refugee and asylum seekers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and those living in rural and low-income settings.
Over the past decade, Dr Kiang has become a strong voice in advocating for the child health impacts of climate change and sustainable healthcare practices. Through her MacHSR project, she will focus on quantifying the environmental benefits of the VVED model of care.
“Almost 40 per cent of emergency department presentations in Victoria are lower-urgency cases that don’t necessarily require physical emergency department care,” Dr Kiang said.
“The VVED provides a state-wide virtual service that not only helps reduce overcrowding in emergency departments, but also delivers considerable environmental savings by avoiding unnecessary travel and resource use.”
Dr Kiang’s research aims to compare the environmental cost of physical emergency department visits with the savings achieved through virtual care models like the VVED.
“Environmental stewardship is increasingly being prioritised in healthcare, while at minimum maintaining, and hopefully improving, clinical outcomes,” Dr Kiang said.
“Demonstrating the environmental benefits of VVED will not only support ongoing investment in the program, but will also strengthen Northern Health’s position as a leader in sustainable and innovative healthcare delivery.”
