ATMS 2019 AWARDS WINNERS
Home » ATMS 2019 Natural Medicine Awards Winners
ATMS announce Winners of the 2019 Natural Medicine Awards
On Saturday night (16 November), ATMS hosted the Natural Medicine Awards Gala Dinner in Sydney, where the four finalists for Practitioner of the Year, Clinic of the Year and Student of the Year, industry professionals, family and friends gathered for a special evening to celebrate their great achievements.
The event included keynote speaker Professor Stephen Myers, a highly respected academic and passionate advocate of the complementary and integrative medicine and honoured special guest Marcus Blackmore who presented the award for Clinic of the Year, dedicated to his father Maurice Blackmore, for Professionalism and Contribution to the Natural Medicine Industry.
ATMS once again congratulate the 2019 winners and highly commended finalists for Practitioner of the Year, Clinic of the Year and Student of the Year. All the finalists demonstrated a passion for and excellence in their field and have made significant contributions to the natural medicine industry and the health and wellbeing of Australians.
To see more images from the Gala Dinner and awards presentation please visit our Facebook page.
We are thrilled to announce the 2019 ATMS Natural Medicine Awards winners and highly commended finalists:
Practitioner of the Year
Dedicated to Dorothy Hall for Practitioner Excellence
Meet your ATMS 2019 Practitioner of the Year!
Angie is an integrative acupuncturist who infuses genuine care and compassion into everything she does. She has been studying and practicing natural health for over fifteen years, with additional qualifications in health coaching, aromatherapy, nutrition, massage, and infant massage instruction, and has been practicing acupuncture and Chinese medicine since 2009. She is passionate about healing, deeply dedicated to her patients, and is always looking for ways to better serve, delight and exceed their expectations. Angie is passionate about working with women and children, and is committed to ensuring the best health outcomes, both for them, and for future generations. She has also been committed to providing affordable access to high quality treatments by running several community-based clinics over the years, and currently works with a local charity to bring subsidised treatments to people living with cancer. She owns and manages a beautiful, eco-friendly, multi-disciplinary natural health clinic which is becoming a well-known oasis of healing and peace in the Blue Mountains.
Highly Commended:
Jess Billiau
Karma Therapies
Jess Billiau of Karma Therapies, began her journey of massage over 20 years ago in an Orthopaedic Ward. She completed her Graduate Diploma in Education and headed off to teach in a high school. Over the next 11 years she taught many young learners the value of knowing their bodies (anatomy and physiology) and being aware of signals for health concerns. Jess’s passion for health and healing did not stop there. She returned to massage and obtained an Advanced Diploma in Remedial and Lymphatic Massage.
Jess uses massage, the healing of touch, to coach each person’s individual inherent strengths and capabilities on their path toward self-awareness and health improvement. Jess is all about educating people regarding their bodies and how to listen to it when it needs support to heal. Jess has run workshops, camps, retreats. She is a Professional Speaker, further increasing her enthusiasm for working with people to understand their differences and motivations and helping them to appreciate how a collaborative approach can achieve improved local and global results.
Robert Gentile
Essendon Natural Health
Robert is a passionate and warm practitioner who has an extensive knowledge of integrative and functional natural medicine. He is down to earth and has an interest in organic foods, gardening and sustainable living. With almost a decade of experience, he is renowned for being very thorough by both fellow practitioners and patients alike. He has a clinical focus on working with people who are experiencing fertility, IVF, pregnancy and women’s health related concerns. He graduated from Victoria University with a Bachelor of Chinese Medicine, in both acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, with the highest honours. He completed his clinical internship in Gynaecology at Shanghai’s famous Shu Guang Hospital, as well as Oncology, Internal Medicine, and Acupuncture departments.
Robert has gone on to complete further study in Traditional Japanese Acupuncture, Functional Medicine, and Natural Fertility & IVF Support. Robert is the Clinical Director of Essendon Natural Health and leads a passionate team of highly trained natural medicine practitioners
Adam Tate
Adam began studying Traditional Medicine in his mid-teens by reading old herbal and european medical texts. By 16 he had established his own herb garden. At 20, Adam began studying Traditional Chinese Medicine with Prof. Won Lung at the Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Melbourne, Australia. By this time, he was well versed in the Galenic tradition of the West and was exploring Ayurveda and Tibetan Medicine.
Adam has made numerous trips to India, China and Tibet studying Indian, Tibetan and Unani Traditions and has had personal teachings from Tibetan Folk healers, the Director of the Tibetan Medicine Institute in Lhasa and Professors from the Sichuan University of TCM. Adam has searched high and wide for detailed and practical knowledge of Traditional Medicine.
He has spent over 25 years assimilating and collecting information from these systems, finding common grounds, and exploring the Materia Medica and Formulas from these ancient systems. He has given numerous talks at Natural Medicine colleges and has been published in peer-reviewed journals. Adam has been responsible for creating the Medicine Traditions Website to explore and promote Traditional Medicine. Medicine Traditions now is the most thorough resource for the study of Traditional Medicine on the web.
Clinic of the Year
Dedicated to Maurice Blackmore for Professionalism and Contribution to the Natural Medicine Industry
Meet your ATMS 2019 Clinic of the Year!
Studio You
studio-you.com.au
Studio You was founded on the collaborative desire to help women and children with naturopathy, homeopathy, and evidence-based medicine provided by Emma Sutherland, a highly experienced naturopath, nutritionist, author and speaker, as well as the wider Studio You team. Emma is multi-faceted naturopathic practitioner with a vast array of both clinical and business skills. A little energizer bunny, she lives by the motto “be what you love, do what you love”.
Emma believes every woman has the right to live a life filled with Mojo, to have that bounce in their step which comes from feeling strong, well and healthy. She has honed her craft and continues to update her knowledge constantly, looking for new ways to present that knowledge, be it at Studio You, an online program, through the media, a speaking event, or health retreats.
A huge passion is found in Emma’s love of mentoring and supporting other practitioners. Her team aims to provide clients with true collaborative care, and both educate and inspire women to exceptional health
Highly Commended:
Peninsula Herbal Dispensary & Naturopathic Clinic was established in 2004 and has been owned by renowned Naturopath Carla Wrenn and family since 2015. Carla and her team of 7 Practitioners provide premium complementary natural medicines and integrative multidisciplinary healthcare to the Mornington Peninsula community, across Australia and worldwide.
The Clinic has a multidisciplinary team of Naturopaths, Herbalists, Nutritionists, Kinesiologist and Homeopaths and practitioners are committed to providing cutting edge individualised health care.
The Dispensary shop is attended by degree qualified Naturopaths who can assist with any enquiry and provide free acute care mini consultations for minor ailments offering safe dietary and lifestyle advice, personalised herbal medicines and nutritional supplements in the unique ‘green pharmacy’ Apothecary setting.
The team love to support their local community with endeavours such as community-based healthcare education, movie nights and supporting numerous community events and charities with donations.
McDowells Herbal Treatments have been manufacturing and selling herbal products to both humans and animals for over 20 years. They offer free consultations for both animals and humans 24 hours a day, 7 day a week and are considered an inspirational and increasingly recognised leader in the alternative natural health industry for animals.
McDowells expertise in herbal medicine, particularly for the equine industry, has continually proven to be an effective and often the only alternative to chemical based treatments. Catherine McDowell’s passion and expertise are inspirational, transforming people and their animal companions lives with health programs which are unique and exclusive to their practice.
Catherine is sought after in the alternative health equine and canine industry to talk at events and was a keynote speaker at Equitana Melbourne 2018. She has also presented animal health lectures to ATMS members.
From her clinic and manufacturing facility in Bathurst NSW, Catherine and her team treat her 30,000 clients from Australia and overseas offering support and real positive health outcomes where often hope was lost.
The newLife centre for Women is a one-stop health clinic for Women’s Health and Wellbeing, dedicated to assist and empower women with information, self-management, health and prevention. They adopt a patient-centred healthcare model aimed at delivering excellent care and responding to the needs and preferences of their patients.
Patricia Diaz is an acupuncturist and founder of newLife centre for Women and acuIVF™ and with over 15 years-experience, is one of Australia’s best known health experts.
Taking on an evidence-based practice approach, Patricia has implemented an acupuncture protocol that supports patients undergoing IVF + IUI, Pre-natal care and women’s health support and addresses the physical and emotional needs of patients on their fertility journey. Patricia has collaborated in several research projects, published articles, written chapter in textbooks, and presentations related to Acupuncture and Infertility.
She is certified Acupuncturist and Herbalist by the Chinese Medicine Board of Australia – AHPRA, associated with the Australian Traditional-Medicine Society and a member of FSA
Student of the Year
Dedicated to Peter Derig for Outstanding Student Achievement
Meet your ATMS 2019 Student of the Year!
Jenna is a final year student in the Bachelor of Health Science (Naturopathy) degree at Endeavour College of Natural Health. She is an advocate for the holistic principles of naturopathy, and passionately believes in preventative and individualised medicine. Her academic output and patient outcomes in student clinic have been exemplary. Once she graduates, Jenna desires to continue educating the community on nutrition and natural medicine through her social media platforms and business, whilst nurturing and supporting their health in clinical practice. With a talent for research and writing, Jenna has co-authored an article for the Journal of the Australian Traditional-Medicine Society this year.
Highly Commended:
Kathryn Khiroya
Endeavour College, NSW
Kathryn is enrolled at Endeavour College of Natural Health, Sydney Campus studying a Bachelor of Health Science of Nutritional Medicine and Dietetics. She says in her opinion a degree in natural health is as much about learning – the science – as it is about becoming a practitioner – the art. Over her six years of study, she has pursued wholeheartedly both art and science, and continued to ask why, encouraging others to do likewise. She loves supporting her fellow students, delving into biochemistry, physiology or psychology in an effort to translate evidence-based research into clinical practice. Kathryn also volunteers in her community and is an advocate for nutrition and healthful interventions. On completion of her degree, Kathryn’s vision is to serve her local community through taking evidence-based research (though not be limited/bound by this) and making it clinically relevant. She aspires to open a clinic within the Epping area, beginning with herself in the capacity of a Clinical Nutritionist, Personal Trainer and Pilates Instructor.
Claudia Milbourne
Endeavour College, QLD
Claudia is a fourth year Naturopathy student at Endeavour College of Natural Health in Brisbane, currently seeing clients at Wellnation Clinics (student clinic). Following her passion for natural medicine, she took a leap of faith and decided to change career plans from global management consulting in Brazil, USA and Australia to undertake a Bachelor of Health Science in Naturopathy in Brisbane, where her family relocated over 10 years ago from Brazil. As a well-rounded professional she has been able to approach this degree with dedication and this experience has proved to be immensely satisfactory. However, it has not always been an easy feat.
Managing some part-time work and raising 3 boys in a busy household alongside an almost full-time study schedule has been a great challenge. As she approaches this last stretch of the degree, a growing desire for immersing herself further within the industry required some “stepping out of the comfort zone”. Reaching out to professionals in the industry and gaining experiences outside college combined with the formal classroom training have provided Claudia with a breadth of experience that has seen her build and maintain a regular and satisfied clientele while practicing in student clinic. She can’t wait to see what experiences she is yet to have during this last semester as a student.
Sonya Byron
ACNT, NSW
Sonya originally trained as a cultural anthropologist and lived and worked in Australia, Thailand, India and the USA – for various NGOs, as a Yoga teacher and therapist, and as the owner/manager of an organic permaculture farm – before returning home to Australia to pursue her love of herbs and herbal medicine. She completed her Bachelor of Health Science (Naturopathy) at the Australasian College of Natural Therapies in September, where she maintained an exemplary academic record and was well-regarded by her lecturers, peers and clients for her caring and compassionate nature. During the course of her studies, she developed particular clinical interests in preventative health care, mental health care, autoimmune conditions, pain management, and dementia, and she loves to combine the very best of our profession’s traditional knowledge with the latest academic research in developing comprehensive, empowering and affordable health care plans in consultation with her clients. She is very excited to be joining a local multi-disciplinary clinic and continuing to support her clients in this way following her graduation in November.
Sonya loves to bring people together, and in 2017, she co-founded SydHerbs, a professional development and networking organisation for herbalists, naturopaths and students, which has to date hosted 14 successful events with up to 100 people in attendance at each. In the future she also hopes to pursue PhD studies that will (somehow!) combine her loves of plants (herbal medicine), people (anthropology) and place (local community).
Congratulations to all the 2019 winners and highly commend finalists.
Want to see the amazing practitioners who have already made an impact on our industry? Check out our previous finalists and winners.
2018 ATMS Natural Medicine Awards – finalists and winners