Drawing on her unmatched experience, Dr McCarthy treated us to a whirlwind tour of the evidence around gender inequality and its impact on individuals and organisations. We heard about the importance of seeing successful women in leadership as a normal part of professional life. We heard about the benefits of working together and using our membership of organisations to tackle on inequality and were encouraged to step forward to take on new and challenging opportunities.

Dr McCarthy is current President-Elect of the International Federation for Emergency Medicine. She is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales Sydney, Senior Emergency Physician at the Prince of Wales Hospital Sydney, and Director ED South East Regional Hospital Bega, NSW. A past president of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine, Dr McCarthy was instrumental in developing the College’s Certificate and Diploma qualifications for non-EM Specialist doctors, and chairs the ACEM National Program improving care in rural and remote EDs. Dr McCarthy established the Emergency Care Institute at the Agency for Clinical Innovation NSW, supporting all NSW EDs, and providing free online access to peer reviewed clinical and educational tools used nationally and internationally. She holds other ACEM, Government, and Governance Board roles, and has been awarded prestigious prizes for services to Emergency Medicine, Leadership, Innovation and Research