Dr Laura McDonald-Wedding realised very early on in her medical career that she wanted to combine her two passions in life – sports and medicine. Since then, she has pursued these interests working as a Sport & Exercise Registrar in clinic, while also working with organisations and clubs such as the AFL, Netball Australia, Gymnastics Australia, Calisthenics Victoria, Hawthorn Football Club, Melbourne Rebels, and Melbourne Victory.
Laura has experience working in the Austin Emergency department as well as surgical assisting in orthopaedics. Through these experiences, Laura understands acute trauma and injury management, internal medicine and both conservative and surgical options available for common musculoskeletal problems.
Laura is passionate about women’s health and female athletes. For this reason, she completed an obstetrics and gynaecology term at the Mercy Hospital for Women. Laura enjoys bringing this experience to women’s sporting teams she has worked with including Melbourne Rebels and Melbourne Victory. She is also the Head Doctor for Hawthorn’s inaugural AFLW side and helped establish the high-performance team to have a strong female health focus.
Laura has also been a keen coach and competitor in calisthenics and dance for over 25 years. Laura has led research to investigate the epidemiology in dance injuries within calisthenics and currently provides injury prevention education within the sport.
When Laura is not working, she is enjoying time outdoors with her family and 1 year old daughter, Evelyn.
Clinical Interests:
- Dance/Ballet/Gymnastics/Circus/Calisthenics
- Masters athletes and helping them achieve their goals and health prevention
- Female health – in particular contraception, iron deficiency, RED-S, bone stress, concussion in female athletes
- All football codes – AFL, soccer, rugby
- Kids and paediatrics
Qualifications:
- Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery with Honours, Monash University
- Management of Sporting Trauma, ACSEP
- Immediate Care in Rugby Level 2, World Rugby
- Interventional Ultrasound Course, BIRD Ultrasound
- Advanced Life Support Level 2, Australian Resuscitation Council
- Level 1 Coaching Certificate, Victorian Calisthenics Coaching Association
Availability: Thursdays from 27 March.