Like dux to water

HEALTHY: LCDR Bronwyn Ferrier receives the dux of the Occupational and Environmental Health course from DCN Russell Crane and Defence Health Chairman Michael Bassingwaite. Photo: LSPH Bill Louys

By Michael Brooke

In what marks a major triumph for the RAN, LCDR Bronwyn Ferrier was recently awarded the Defence Health Ltd Award for Academic Excellence in Occupational and Environmental Health.

LCDR Ferrier proved her academic excellence against 15 civilians and Australian Defence Force medical personnel which earned her $500 prize money.

The award was presented by Deputy Chief of Navy RADM Russell Crane and Chairman of Defence Health Michael Bassingwaite.

DCN applauded LCDR Ferrier for excelling in a highly competitive field against the best in the ADF and the private sector.

“Please accept my congratulations on behalf of the Navy for your outstanding achievement,” he said.

“The significance of this award is that it recognises the outstanding academic achievements of ADF personnel and encourages them to continue their studies,” he said.

LCDR Ferrier, OIC Fleet Industrial Hygiene Support Unit at HMAS Kuttabul, said she was pleasantly surprised to emerge as dux of the six-month course that was operated on-line by the University of Adelaide.

“I studied very hard because I wanted to excel academically in my profession and further my career through additional studies,” she said.

LCDR Ferrier said she was yet to decide how to spend the prize money but her options include investing in red wine, celebration drinks with her friends or buying her husband additional engines for his model railway.

Hailing from Yass, NSW, LCDR Ferrier joined the RAN in January 1994.

Her tertiary qualifications include a Bachelor of Nursing, Master in Health Science Education, and Master in Public Health.

After completion of her Qualified Entry Officer Training in March 1994, she was posted to Balmoral Naval Hospital as a ward shift supervisor.

In 1995 she was posted to the Professional Development Officer position, and then to the Defence Health Service Branch in Canberra in 1998, to the Directorate of Health Personnel Professional Development.

In 1999 LCDR Ferrier was posted to Chief of Navy’s office in Canberra, and then back to Sydney to Maritime Headquarters in 2001 to work for the Fleet Medical Officer.

Her roles when working for the Fleet Medical Officer included: operational health planning, management and professional development of reservists, and category sponsor for the Navy Nursing Branch.

LCDR Ferrier was posted to the Joint Operational Intelligence Centre (JOIC) in June 2003 as a health analyst where she participated in some training in the intelligence field prior to commencing maternity leave in 2004.

She went on to complete her Master in Public Health in 2005 while on full-time civilian schooling.

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