Photo: Dr Amireh Fakhouri receiving the award from RACGP President Dr Michael Wright.
Palestinian-Australian Dr Amireh Fakhouri was named General Practitioner in Training of the Year at the 2025 Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ (RACGP) awards evening held at their national conference on Saturday 15 November 2025 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Presented by RACGP President Dr Michael Wright, the prestigious award recognises early-career GPs who have made a remarkable impact in both medicine and community health.
“Dr Fakhouri has undertaken tremendous work contributing to health equity in Victoria, particularly for refugee and asylum seeker communities,” said Dr Wright. “Our GP in Training of the Year shows why the future of general practice is looking so bright.”
Dr Fakhouri serves as the Medical Director of Venus Women’s Health and continues her clinical work at Utopia Refugee and Asylum Seeker Health. She is also one of the directors and co-founders of Palestine Children’s Relief Fund Australia, a nonprofit committed to providing free healthcare to children in Palestine.
In her powerful acceptance speech, Dr Fakhouri reflected on her journey as a doctor, mother, and advocate shaped by a sense of moral urgency.
“Tonight feels like a moment in the middle of a very human journey,” she began, “one shaped by people whose stories stayed with me long after they’ve left my clinic.”
She recounted the story of a young boy with PTSD from war, one of many patients she encountered at her refugee clinic. His trauma, she said, was not unique—mirrored in the pain of families fleeing Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan.
“Physical scars can be treated,” she said, “but what about the psychological scars beneath the surface? How does one restore a child’s stolen innocence? This question has guided everything I’ve done since.”
Over the past few years, Dr Fakhouri has not only completed her fellowship and raised two children, but also taken on national advocacy roles. She was the lead plaintiff in Australia’s largest class action lawsuit on unpaid overtime for junior doctors, securing $230 million.
“If those experiences taught me anything, it’s that justice is slow, but it’s always worth the fight.”
“Health equity isn’t generosity, it’s justice,” she continued. “Once you’ve seen injustice up close, advocacy is no longer a choice, but a responsibility.”
The audience was visibly moved as Dr Fakhouri returned to the story of the little boy, representative of so many unheard voices.
“His trauma didn’t begin in my refugee clinic. It began in a world where silence felt easier than truth, where neutrality felt safer than justice, and children like him were left to bear the costs.”
“Tonight I ask all of us to be brave – to speak up in the face of suffering, to speak for those who are unheard, to act even when it feels uncomfortable.”
“Being a doctor is more than just a job. It’s a force for justice as well as healing.” She concluded.
Dr Fakhouri credited her Palestinian heritage for shaping her resilience and determination—an insight RACGP President Dr Wright praised as “wise words” that reflect her commitment to inspiring the next generation of doctors to create meaningful change through perseverance.
GP25 is Australia’s largest national conference dedicated to general practice, recognising the vital contributions of GPs, registrars, supervisors, and practices across the country.
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