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for Major General John Pearn AM RFD (Rtd)
Major General John Pearn AM RFD (Rtd)
Past Surgeon General, Australian Defence Force
Major John General Pearn was born in Brisbane in 1940 and educated at Brisbane Grammar School and the University of Queensland. At the age of 25, he enlisted as a Captain (Regimental Medical Officer) in No. 1 Casualty Clearing Station in Brisbane during which time he saw active service on three occasions, including his first position as Resident Medical Officer to the Pacific Island Regiments (2nd Battalion) in 1966. He subsequently served in Vietnam as the Consultant Physician to the Australian and New Zealand Forces, based at 1st Australian Field Hospital in Vung Tau. His Army Reserve career included commanding No. 2 Field Hospital (1979-1982) in Brisbane as well as numerous other senior military staff and training postings. He served as the Resuscitationist and Consultant Physician as part of the Forward Surgical Team of the Australian Medical Supports Force, during the Rwandan emergency. He studied, worked and served in the United Kingdom with the British parachute regiment, then worked for the World Health Organisation and UNESCO.
In civilian life, Professor Pearn recently retired as Deputy Head within the Graduate School of Medicine, University of Queensland and Consultant Physician to the Royal Women's Hospital in Brisbane and Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health based at the Royal Children's Hospital in Brisbane. He established the first hospital genetics clinics in Queensland at the Royal Children's Hospital and the Royal Women's Hospital in 1974. Pearn holds double doctorates in medicine and philosophy and has published prolifically. He has been presented with more than forty awards, academic medals, campaign medals and service decorations, including Member of the Order of Australia (1979), Knight of the Order of St John and a Centenary Medal for services to the nation. He retired as the Surgeon general in early 2001.
APPVA Patron- Major General J. Pearn, AM, RFD, www.peacekeepers.asn.au
Queensland Ambulance Service: Kenneth James McPherson Foundation
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