Senior role in Texas

Dr Mark E Escott, BM, BS(Grad Entry) ’03, is breaking new ground in a senior role in his homeland, the USA.

Dr Escott travelled from Texas to study a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (Graduate Entry) at Flinders, graduating in 2003. This was followed by an internship at Modbury Public Hospital. He has now been appointed Medical Director for the City of Austin - Travis County Emergency Medical Service (EMS), which provides services to the 1.2 million residents in and around Austin, Texas.

‘I am grateful to have had the opportunity to develop my foundation of medical education at Flinders. The opportunity to study in a place that was the convergence of innovation, collaboration, and true excitement for the improvement of healthcare has forever shaped my views,’ he said. ‘Innovations in education and system design that I have now implemented here in Texas.’

It’s been something of a homecoming for the Adelaide-trained medico who founded the Rice University EMS in Houston, Texas as an undergraduate before returning home from Australia to oversee the program as its medical director.

In addition to his faculty position at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas Dr Escott has recently been appointed as an adjunct senior lecturer in the College of Medicine and Public Health at Flinders.

As for the future, Dr Escott says that once he settles into his new position, he would ‘love to begin discussions to develop formal ties between Flinders and the University of Texas. The fact that Austin and Adelaide are sister cities will hopefully help!’