QUALIFICATIONS
Dr Dush Shan is a
Medical Specialist in Psychiatry. He
graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Melbourne in 1977.
He then worked as a doctor before becoming a Psychiatry Trainee/Registrar
between 1980 and 1985. In 1985 he obtained the specialist qualification of
Fellowship of the Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Psychiatrists
(FRANZCP).
CLINICAL APPOINTMENTS
Upon obtaining the
specialist qualification, he held positions as Unit Head at the Footscray
Psychiatric Hospital followed by the Royal Park Psychiatric Hospital. He also began a private practice in Moonee
Ponds, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia.
With the expansion of the private practice, Dr Shan moved to
consultation liaison psychiatry positions at the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne
Consultation liaison
psychiatry consists of work in the medical and surgical wards of a public
hospital including the Emergency Department and Trauma Units. During this period, Dr Shan was often
required to make determinations about admissions and treatment under the Mental
Health Act.
From 2007 to 2021, Dr Shan
worked at the Caulfield Campus of Alfred Health as the
sessional consultant psychiatrist to the Caulfield Pain Management Centre.
From 1995 to the
present, Dr Shan has been principal specialist and director of the Norwood
Specialist Centre in Moonee Ponds where his main clinical practice has been
located.
INDEPENDENT MEDICAL
EXAMINER
Dr Shan has been an
independent medical examiner for the Victorian WorkCover Authority and
Transport Accident Commission since 1994 and is also an impairment examiner and
independent medical examiner in other jurisdictions such as New South Wales
WorkCover and Comcare. Between 2002 and
2010 Dr Shan was a panellist on the Medical Panels, Victoria.
Dr Shan has conducted
in excess of 300 independent examinations each year for 20 years in a range of
matters. The reports have assisted in
the resolution of the majority of such matters without court proceedings or
judgements being needed. This is
reflected in the comparatively small proportion of judgements that refer to Dr
Shan’s reports on the Australasian Legal Information Institute database
(http://www.austlii.edu.au/)
Some judgements
illustrative of the complexities of opinion are below:
Jackson v Woolworths
Limited, Magistrates’ Court of Victoria (19 October 2011)
Sejranovic v Berkeley
Challenge Pty Ltd, Supreme Court of Victoria 108 (22 May 2009)
Woolworths Ltd v Warfe,
Supreme Court of Victoria 22 (19 February 2013)
Goldsmith v SPC Ardmona
Operations Ltd, Supreme Court of Victoria 445 (5 October 2009)
Norris v Brumar
(Victoria) Pty Ltd, Supreme Court of Victoria 218 (9 June 2009)
Montclare v Metlife
Insurance Ltd, Supreme Court of Victoria 306 (25 June 2015)
Willett v State of
Victoria, Supreme Court of Victoria 76 (12 April 2013)
Dyer and Comcare, Administrative Appeals Tribunal of Australia 748 (25 October 2011)
Psychiatric medicolegal
work leads to controversial claimants being seen and sometimes results in
unwarranted complaints together with anonymous trolling behaviour and false allegations on
questionable websites. While the
investigation of complaints against registered medical practitioners is
generally confidential, the public can reassure themselves by checking for any
negative findings against a practitioner on the Australian Health Practitioner
Regulation Agency (AHPRA) website which is updated regularly.
