Dr. Elizabeth (Liz) Sturgiss

Dr. Elizabeth (Liz) Sturgiss

FRACGP PhD BMed MPH MForensMed

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ORCID

ANU researcher profile

Monash profile

Personal Website

Researchgate

Some other projects include:

• Member of the RACGP Expert Committee - Research

• Senior Research Fellow at Monash University, Melbourne

• NHMRC Investigator (Emerging Leader) 2020-2024

• Visiting Fellow at Australian National University

• leads emerging research program on the management of complex and stigmatised health issues in primary care, focus on translating guidelines into real-world practice

• Led research team to develop The Change Program

• Led research on the Therapeutic Alliance in General Practice

• Author: Enhancing primary healthcare for adults on low incomes with obesity - an intervention development study

• Co-author: Working with practitioners to reduce alcohol related harm - embedding brief interventions in Victorian general practices

• Author of article in Ausdoc: 4 steps to tackling unsafe alcohol use

• Author of article in Medical Observer: Why this GP, and mum, is worried about Aussie kids

• Author of article in AJGP: GPs at the Deep End: Identifying and addressing social disadvantage wherever it lies

• Author of article in NewsGP: Australian general practice research is nearing crisis point

• Blog post: It’s hard to accept…but it’s all right to be wrong

• Fellow of RACGP since 2012

• Founding Fellow of Clinical Forensic Medicine (RCPA)

• 2017 warded Endeavour Research Fellowship to travel to University of Alberta, Canada, to study Cognitive Task Analysis and methods for theoretically-informed evaluations of complex interventions

Dr. Elizabeth (Liz) Sturgiss is a Melbourne GP and researcher who is experienced in a broad range of clinical and academic focusses. Liz has a passion for reducing health inequity by understanding the ‘why’ of the difference between clinical guidelines and real-world practice, and her academic and clinical work aims to bridge the gap between the two fields of study.

Liz’s research career began when she was an early career clinician researcher. Her research utilises theoretical principles from behaviour change and implementation science to lead procedural reforms in the management of complex health issues in primary care.

In her clinic, Liz cares for people with substance dependence and complex multi-morbidity, and uses her research expertise to inform her practice. This manifests in her work in understanding social disadvantage and the way such complex social issues can influence patient outcomes in areas such as obesity.

Liz consolidates her clinical and research interests through her experience in implementation research in primary care. One such example is her work in the Therapeutic Alliance in General Practice. This mixed methods research project developed an internationally relevant measure of the process of primary care, and has a range of applications from intervention design and evaluation to clinician training.

Similarly, in her role leading a research team to develop a weight management program for use in general practice, she established The Change Program to make the implementation of NHMRC guidelines for obesity management more plausible in real-world practice. This program has now been rolled out to over 1000 GPs in ACT and NSW, and has been influential in implementation research design.

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