For Senior Staff Specialist, Dr Mike Tedeschi AM, being appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) was a great surprise.

Starting as an intern at Canberra Hospital in 1979, Mike has spent the last 38 years specialising in alcohol and drug medicine, supporting people across Canberra who have substance dependencies.

Mike has a number of roles across Canberra Health Services. One of them includes helping to administer the ACT’s opioid treatment program, where the D&A program directly oversee 400 patients and support a further 600 patients who access the program through general practitioners.

While treating his own patients, Mike also provides clinical support and advice to staff across the hospital whose patients are being seen for often unrelated conditions but also present with an alcohol and/or drug problem.

Mike says the Australia Day honour was a complete surprise, but its meaning goes beyond his own work.

‘I think it partly represents the amount of time I’ve spent in the field trying to make an impact, and 38 years is a long time to be here. You hope in that time that you make an impact.’

‘I think it’s also a recognition of the alcohol and drug field as whole, and everyone who works in it, the award is saying “we recognise that this is an important and challenging field to work in”.’

When he’s not seeing patients, Mike is busy training the next generation of doctors through his position as a Senior Lecturer at the Australian National University’s medical school.

‘Since the medical school opened in 2002, we have taught every cohort of students coming through, which is roughly 2,000 students over the last 20 years.

‘I can only see so many patients, a few a day, a few a week, but relatively only a few a year. But through teaching, I can influence the next generation of doctors. If I can help them better manage this in their own practice, I’ve indirectly help thousands of patients – more than I could see in a lifetime.’

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