Dr Gary Galambos is well-recognised within his medical specialty as being a talented Psychiatrist with a diverse skillset, experience and track record of mental health service provision, development and reform.
He has a rather unique professional profile of being not only an enthusiastic private practice clinician, but also has a CV demonstrating that he is an adept educator, mental health service developer and robust, effective leader, role model and mental health system advocate for public and private sectors.
Dr Galambos has been dedicated to improving mental health literacy – providing lectures, training, supervision and mentoring to numerous psychiatry trainees, career medical officers in psychiatry, medical students, general practitioners and allied health clinicians within the public and private sectors.
He served for many years as counsellor for a charity, the Medical Benevolent Association of NSW, helping doctors in distress suffering psychosocial problems, and Dr Galambos contributed to improving awareness, early intervention and prevention by conducting numerous lectures about doctor’s health and wellbeing.
Dr Galambos developed progressive postgraduate and university-affiliated research training programs within the private sector whilst serving for over ten years as medical director of a large 100-bed private psychiatric hospital in Sydney. Whilst in the role of medical director of St John of God Hospital Burwood, he contributed to the development of multiple innovative hospital-based services:
an inpatient DBT program for borderline personality and young adults
an inpatient mother-baby unit for postnatal depression and other perinatal mental disorders
an inpatient substance addiction program that could cater to patients not only with alcohol and other drug misuse but also opiate misuse
inpatient programs specifically catering for elderly, psychotic disorders, anxiety disorders and mood disorders
an outpatient clozapine program for treatment-resistant psychotic disorders that was pharmacy-based
innovative outpatient day programs including DBT, schema therapy, perinatal and positive psychology
integrated service model linking up inpatient, day program, medical consulting room and hospital pharmacy practices, including outpatient clinics with career medical officers, to facilitate collaborative models of care maximising the use of multidisciplinary teamwork.
Developing early intervention services for young adults with emerging mental disorders in NSW has become Dr Galambos’s special interest over the past ten years and in 2012 he began practicing within a cutting-edge subspecialty unit catering to this population: ‘Uspace’ – the Young Adult Mental Health Unit at St Vincent’s Private Hospital in Darlinghurst, Sydney, with links to the Brain and Mind Centre and Headspace at Sydney University, Camperdown in Sydney.
Dr Galambos has been a highly visible proactive advocate of private psychiatry, having chaired the Section of Private Practice between 2008 and 2014 and continuing to serve as Deputy Chair, during which some of his achievements have included:
convening numerous annual RANZCP Congress Symposia
he was instrumental in the establishment of the highly successful online Fellows Directory
he led the development of Professional Guidelines for private sector multidisciplinary collaborative care
he advocated strongly and persistently for improved confidentiality of doctor-patient medical records, which has led to the Australian Law Reform Commission examining the RANZCP’s recommendations
he advocated for upgrading the Medical Benefits System and improved Telehealth care capacity
he has lobbied within the RANZCP to upgrade of the representation of private practice psychiatry within the College.
Dr Galambos has been a member of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) NSW Branch Committee since 2003, and, between 2014 and 2018, he served two consecutive terms as the Chair (President) of the RANZCP NSW Branch, during which he:
Transformed the NSW Branch into becoming a progressive, quality and effective member organisation that is also a leader of reform within the wider College
Put together an ‘A-team’ of staff and committee members!
Led the NSW Branch executive and committee and worked closely with the Binational Executive and Committees, other State Chairs (Presidents), as well as the AMA, ASMOF and Presidents of the NSW Medical Colleges
Chaired multiple meetings and committees such as the monthly NSW Branch Committee, NSW Branch Annual General Meeting, Annual Dinner
Met regularly with internal and external stakeholders such as the NSW Minister of Mental Health, Chief Psychiatrist, Manager of NSW Department of Health’s Mental Health Branch and other policy officers and manager bureaucrats, to address urgent and salient issues related to mental health care in NSW
Established key novel Committees such as the NSW Branch Governance, Leadership and Workforce Subcommittee and the National Branch Chairs Forum (which proved to be a highly efficacious lobby driver of reform within the Binational College)
Enhanced engagement with members, creating a sense of community, promoted a cohesive membership organisation culture
Facilitated the NSW Branch to become adept at conducting targeted consultation of NSW members to ensure optimal representation.
In addition to contributing to the design and development of purpose-built contemporary psychiatric hospital units, Dr Galambos has, over the past ten years, been developing a cutting-edge online e-mental health literacy education, training and support program that will enhance and compliment face-to-face mental health care, as he is convinced that e-mental health can revolutionise mental health care advancement.