DIARY OF A PARAMEDIC IN A PRIMARY HEALTH CARE CLINIC Examining the attributes and practices of paramedics working in primary health care contexts
With
Alecka Miles, Lecturer
Edith Cowan University, Western Australia &
Community Paramedic,
Dianella Family Medical Centre, Western Australia
PEOPLE IN HEALTH CARE SEGMENT
Filmed in Perth, Western Australia | October 2025
Alecka Miles is a lecturer at Edith Cowan University and works as a paramedic in a multidisciplinary team at Dianella Family Medical Centre in Metropolitan Perth, Western Australia.
Community paramedic roles have a history in Australia, dating back to 2007 in New South Wales and followed by similar initiatives in South Australia and New Zealand. Alecka’s position emerged after she sought to evaluate how paramedics could integrate into general practice, ultimately leading to a job offer post-COVID lockdown in 2020. Her skills, particularly in cannulation, proved valuable as healthcare shifted towards primary care.
In her role, Alecka conducts community health assessments, providing insights from her paramedic background. She notes a significant learning curve, having expanded her role far beyond her initial experiences in ambulance services.
Alecka’s research aims to explore the practices and demographic characteristics of paramedics working in primary healthcare contexts in Australia and New Zealand.
At Dianella, she collaborates with nurses and other healthcare professionals, emphasising patient-centred and holistic care. Their teamwork is characterised by mutual respect and recognition of each other’s strengths, fostering a supportive environment for managing both urgent care and chronic disease management.
Australian Health Journal spoke to her about her day to day experience in general practice.
Source: Written from transcript
Footage credit: ACPIC24, Australasian College of Paramedicine
-
Brain cancer Professor mentors Tasmanian researchers
Rosemary Harrup trained in Victoria and Tasmania in Medical Oncology and Clinical Haematology, completing a dual Fellowship in 2001. She is the current Director of Cancer and Blood Services at the Royal Hobart Hospital (RHH), a role she has held since 2009.
Australian Health Journal spoke to Rosemary about her journey in medicine and specifically her work in Clinical Trials in Brain Cancer and the value she placed on her senior clinicians as mentors and how she now mentors others.
-
FULL FEATURE Consumers and communities as agents of health care change and improvement
Policymakers, health administrators and clinicians must learn and embrace new ways to harness the transformative role consumers, community members and carers can play. Conversely, consumers and communities need support, capability and capacity to engage as equals in policy, research, program and service design. This is necessary if are to be less technocratic and realise the vision where all members of society can live the best life possible.
-
More health care volunteers needed for Street Side Medics
Identifying a gap in the healthcare of vulnerable people in New South Wales, Dr Daniel Nour founded Street Side Medics in August 2020, a not-for-profit, GP-led mobile medical service for people experiencing homelessness.
Dr. Daniel Nour is a cardiology advanced trainee at Royal North Shore Hospital and the founder of Street Side Medics, a mobile medical service dedicated to providing GP-led care to individuals experiencing homelessness. The initiative started from a customised van, which serves as a medical clinic, visiting food services and shelters across New South Wales and recently Victoria. Street Side Medics offers free medical care without requiring documentation, ID, or a Medicare card.
