Dr Sally Cockburn is a GP and health advocate - with a twist - while she practices part time in suburban Melbourne she is also known around Australia as 'Dr Feelgood', a high profile media presenter who champions sensitive issues and demystifies medicine.
Current work
Dr Cockburn is a General Practitioner with over 35 years experience. She is a Consultant to Northern Health, Clinical Lead Partnerships, and is also a Board Member Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board (Victoria)
Dr Sally Cockburn is host of TALKING HEALTH Saturday evenings on Melbourne's radio 3AW. Sally is a recipient of the Radio Industry Award for best Radio Documentary and an MBF Award for Excellence in Health Journalism.
Dr Cockbun is the Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Dept Public Health and Preventive Medicine, at Monash University
She holds a Masters degree in Health and Medical Law from the University of Melbourne and works with law firms on health cases.
Previous experience
Media: Along with over 30 years clinical experience, her 22 year media career spans every television network and Australia's top radio networks. She spent 10 years as health presenter on Good Morning Australia with Bert Newton and her national radio sex and relationships program Pillowtalk was a trailblazing phenomenon in the 1990s. She also hosted her own talk back TV show on Channel 7.
Community: Behind the scenes, Sally is passionate about patient and community issues and is active in health policy and education at many levels. Sally is a Lifetime Australia Day Ambassador for Victoria and in 2010 Sally was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women for harnessing the media to improve health communications. That same year she was also awarded the Monash Distinguished Alumni Service Award.
Appointments: She has served as Chair of Family Planning Victoria, on the boards of Metropolitan Ambulance Service and Vichealth and the Victorian Government's Mental Health Reform Council and Sexual Health Task Force, and as a member of the Melbourne Zoo's Scientific Advisory Committee.
Ambassador: Sally is patron or ambassador for many community organisations including Royal District Nursing service and Melbourne Osteoporosis Support Group. She is an Ambassador for Lort Smith Animal Hospital and a proud rescue dog owner.
Advocacy:Sally champions those who feel disempowered. She is willing to stand up against bullies and ensures sensitive issues are not brushed under the table.
No issue to delicate, no problem to extreme, nothing fazes this doc. As she says, if she hasn't seen or heard it she's probably swabbed it. Tall buildings and speeding bullets would be next except she's dead scared of the lycra tights.
If you are wondering how she does all this, you will be pleased to hear that her car is overdue for a service and she has a messy house.
Talking Points
Life, Health and Feeling Good
Life, Health and Feeling Good
Life, Health and Feeling Good - the Next Steps
Life, Health and Feeling Good - the Next Steps
Love, Laughter and Sex
Love, Laughter and Sex
MC and Facilitator
MC and Facilitator
Life After Redundancy - Looking After Yourself
Life After Redundancy - Looking After Yourself
It's All About Balance: A Healthy Approach to Life
It's All About Balance: A Healthy Approach to Life
Building Resilience in Children
Building Resilience in Children
Talks for Students
Talks for Students
Sally was fantastic, delivering a very strong message in a light hearted and fun way. Everybody loved her and there were so many positive comments at the end of our day. She certainly helped ... keep reading Boronia and Ringwood Administrative Group
We were very pleased with Sally's efforts. The evening ran like clockwork as she was totally on top of things at every moment of the night.
Sally was excellent, had done her homework and integrated her presentation into the agricultural industry beautifully.
Sally was extremely entertaining and engaging talking of issues relevant to our community and event.
Sally was a very entertaining and knowledgeable speaker. She presented what can be serious topics in a lighthearted way and engaged the audience with her humour.
Dr Cockburn was most definitely an asset to our Forum, she kept the day moving and was always alert to any possible mishaps. Dr Cockburn was able to keep up with all speakers and often referred back to things they had said during the course of the day. She tied the Forum up really well at the end.
The feedback from the Ramsay Health Care Nurse and Midwifes Conference attendees was very positive. Sally Cockburn was listed by many attendees as the "highlight of the day"! She is an hysterical pleasure to listen to.
We have received some great positive feedback since Dr Sally Cockburn's visit for our Women's Health and Well-being Expo to celebrate International Women's Day in early March this year. For many Sally's presentation brought back memories of rushing home as schoolgirls to listen and learn from her radio program. She was a great hit with the ladies battling menopause and gave freely of her time after her presentation to chat with them more openly. Many women in our community feel isolated due to our regional location, so this was a great opportunity they were able to take up. I have just flicked through the feedback forms and top of the list of answers to 'What did you like about this expo?' was mention of Dr Feelgood's talk, many commenting that it was excellent and that we should have allowed longer on the program. The presentation 'Getting Rid of Guilt' seemed to hit the spot with many women who attended, as we expected, as many rural women juggle so much in their lives, they often feel guilty for taking some time for themselves. The feedback received verbally following the Sunday 'Brunch with Dr Feelgood' has been amazing and the buzz in the room after her presentation reinforced the uplifting focus. There has been much light hearted banter in the community about the subject matter of her presentation 'Love, Laughter and Sex - Dr Feelgood's Rescue Remedy for Relationship Resuscitation' and I think it has been a good start to what may become an annual brunch now.
Sally was absolutely delightful and a joy to have on site. We all loved her so much and I wanted to thankyou for coordinating the session. A very happy pharmaceutical group so many thanks.
Dr Sally Cockburn was terrific. The 220 attendees voted her 9-10 out of 10. She was entertaining, and pitched her MC at the right level. Would highly recommend her as an MC and speaker. We will use her again!
Hit the mark... content was sufficiently tailored to our business and our brief. Humorous, intelligent and engaging.
Sally was very easy to deal with... I felt Dr Sally was only talking to me, not 150 other women.
Sally's friendly nature made her an absolute delight to work with. Her insights to issues that some may find difficult to explore and discuss were addressed with both professionalism and humour leaving everyone feeling good. Thank you!
Sally was funny, engaging and warm in all her dealings with the students. Her fantastic ability to reach the students was best revealed through her questioning and gentle probing of them throughout the presentation.
Sally was definitely very entertaining and was a good way to finish off the conference. She is a great presenter and the audience enjoyed her session.
She worked well in a difficult venue. Many evaluation comments made reference to her talk and loved the evening. My third booking of Sally - she is great!
Sally was excellent.
I'm still getting feedback from clients who attended Sally's presentation who said that they loved it. It was a funny and informative presentation on a subject that at times can be quite a hard one to tackle, Sally managed it perfectly. This has been our 10th presentation to these clients and all them raved about Sally's presentation. What a great sense of humour she has! A great job... would highly recommend her.
Sally is a natural in front of any audience. She has a real talent for capturing everyone's attention and then running with it.
Sally was very well received by the audience. We felt that she 'read' the audience well, was lively, entertaining and relevant. The feedback we received was very positive.
In the past five years, Sally has been a keynote speaker at the Accor National Sales & Marketing Conference, delighting and captivating the audience with a humorous take on what could be perceived as a more serious medical subject. Not ever short of a word, Sally is the master of adlibbing and is well in command of her audience. She has a marvellous sense of humour, a good sense of timing, and is extremely knowledgeable on a wide range of subjects. Sally is also highly respected not only in her chosen profession as a Medical Practitioner but also for her broadcasting skills and the enormous amount of work she puts into the community. We regard Sally as a 'good friend' of Sofitel Melbourne, for her great contribution to this hotel, and for her readiness to always assist when it's for a good cause. She will always be top-of-mind when we are seeking a professional and entertaining MC.
A wonderful and entertaining session!
Very easy to liaise with prior to, and on the day. This allowed suitable inclusion of the overall seminar theme and "entertainment" pitched at the right level. Dr Feelgood's approach and content was valued and enjoyed by delegates and partners equally.
We had great feed back from our attendees, they all loved Dr Feelgood, and found her speech humorous but with a serious theme, and with good practical advice.
Sally was very funny and enjoyable to listen to. Many delegates commented that she was a great presenter and the subject matter was highly relevant to personal; relationships, self health and the ability to deliver in the work place. A lot of people found that the talk was much needed and great to finally have a 'balance' given the attention it deserves!
Sally was fantastic. She connected with the students and kept them interested all the way through.
