About Zee Wan
After completing medical school, I obtained my post-graduate Membership of the Royal College of Physicians in United Kingdom in Internal Medicine and started my Medical Oncology specialist training at the National Cancer Centre in Singapore. I was granted the opportunity to go to the United States on a government fellowship at Duke University in North Carolina where I was a breast cancer fellow which was followed by a stint at the Washington University, Siteman Cancer Center where I worked as a research fellow. Upon my return, I attained the Fellowship of the Academy of Medicine in Medical Oncology which was equivalent to a subspecialty board exam. Thereafter, I was appointed to lead the breast cancer service at the National Cancer Centre in Singapore for several years where I was actively involved in phase I – IV clinical trials in breast cancer and also collaborated in national grants on pharmacogenomics and genomic profiling. I was conferred the fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 2009. Having a young family with two children and working full-time kept me very busy.
Looking for a sea change and through serendipity, I was recruited to the role of the Director of Oncology at Goulburn Valley Health in Shepparton in 2012 and was appointed as the Clinical Director of West Hume Integrated Cancer Services afterwards. I was awarded the Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in Medical Oncology the following year. The opportunity to teach at the Rural Clinical School as a senior lecturer with the University of Melbourne Medical School was opened to me and I am still actively involved in medical student examinations currently.
In 2017, I took on the role to lead the Oncology Unit at Peninsula Health in Frankston Hospital and was appointed as Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor with Monash University. In the same year, I was part of an inaugural class who completed the Specialist Certificate in Clinical Leadership at the University of Melbourne. Not only was the course invaluable for me to reflect on my career up to that point, it helped me hone the various skills crucial for my roles. I currently serve as a board member for Cancer Trials Australia and hold membership on the Medical and Scientific Committee of Cancer Council Victoria. Having presented at national and international oncology conferences as well as authored peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, I have been invited as a reviewer for various journals including The Breast, Internal Medicine Journal and Frontiers in Oncology. Currently, I am a site principal and co-investigator of sponsored and investigator-initiated trials at Peninsula Health and am also a member of the AGITG Lower GI Working Party.
Shortly after starting at Peninsula Health, I was fortunate to be granted a scholarship to undertake the Executive Ready Program at Women’s Leadership Australia through the Australian School of Applied Management. Through the course, I got to learn from other women leaders in various fields facing very similar challenges and how they navigated complex circumstances to achieve their goals and desired outcomes. In the last 18 months, I was given the opportunity to co-chair the Victorian Cancer COVID-19 Network (VCCN*) Taskforce as well as chair the Telehealth Expert Working Group during the pandemic. This allowed me to work with many like-minded individuals across the cancer sector both within and outside the state. With the rapid uptake and implementation of telehealth, the Telehealth Expert Working Group led a first state-wide survey for consumers and clinicians which is being prepared for publication. During lockdowns in Victoria, I completed the Company Directors Course from the Australian Institute of Company Directors earlier this year to get myself up to speed with essential board skills and also basic financial knowledge.
