Dr Debra Leung

Debra is a staff specialist anesthetist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. She has a clinical interest in perioperative medicine and prehabilitation. Through her work in this area, she started and leads the shared decision-making (SDM) for high-risk surgical patients pathway. This is a patient-centred pathway that aims to empower patients and support clinicians in the multitude of difficult decisions around the time of surgery. In addition to this clinical interest, she is currently undertaking a PhD exploring the role of SDM in major surgery through the Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology based at the University of Melbourne.
 
Debra is a trained facilitator in communication skills for healthcare workers and teaches on a variety of healthcare communication workshops and residential retreats. She also runs workshops to upskill perioperative clinicians in SDM for high-risk surgical patients. Through this work, she holds an affiliate senior lecturer position with the Centre for Organisational Change in Person-Centred Healthcare based at Deakin University.