THE HEART OF MEDICINE
Global Gathering 2026
An International Gathering of Compassionate Leaders in Medicine
The beating heart of medicine is people: patients and those who care for them.
Join us for this incredible one of a kind event in the heart of Australia at one of our most spectacular locations. Voyagers Resort in Central Australia in 2026.
Learn from some of the world's medical leaders in compassionate care, about how heart centred healthcare can empower and heal healthcare workers and their patients.
For: Doctors, Nurses, Allied Health Clinicians, Healthcare Leaders,
Coaches and Supervisors of Medics, Patient Advocates and all healthcare workers.
When: 29-31 July 2026
Where: Voyages Ayers Rock Resort, Central Australia
The ART of medicine enables the science of medicine.
If your patients don’t trust you or don’t understand you, they don’t want to work with you.
Healthcare can only deliver great health outcomes for patients when they trust those providing the care. In the US more litigious action is taken for poor communication than any other error in medicine.
Getting the balance right in the art and science of medicine is vital for doctor wellbeing.
Doctors who have strong inter and intrapersonal skills have better relationships with their colleagues, and their patients, and they enjoy longer more fulfilling careers.
The art of medicine, the purpose of healthcare, is deeply rooted in heart centred care. Care that seeks to relieve suffering.
Compassion is a renewable resource, hardwired into humans for survival.
Healthcare is better when compassion is at the heart of medicine.
29 - 31 July 2026 International Gathering
1-3 August 2026 Recalibrate Alumni Retreat
This is not your ordinary conference, we will be meeting each other
at the heart of Australia's red centre people!! 😊
Feel your own beating heart and the international collective heartbeat of those working to heal medicine:
- Learn how compassionate leadership is changing medical training and practice.
- Understand how compassion elevates and sustains human health and wellbeing
- Experience the impact of cultivating a values led, integrated life, working in medicine.
- Feel the powerful uplift of connecting in a medical community of changemakers.
- Be inspired by heart led leaders who are changing how we "do" healthcare and learn how you can too
- Do something positive to heal your heart and spirit. They are the enablers of all your other work.
Join us at the Spiritual Heart of Australia.
Make sure you plan to visit Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park - a living cultural landscape too.
- lift your spirits
- nourish your heart
- take deep care of yourself
- build your skills
- find your heart centred, skilled community
- connect you to what really matters
- envision a future you want to be a part of
- find your collaborators, mentors, inspirers
Speakers
Dr. Andrea Austin
Emergency Physician, Director of Simulation, Podcast Host of Heartline: Conversations with Healthcare Changemakers, Author
San Diego, USA
Dr. Ashok Bhattacharya
Psychiatrist, Founder and President of the Empathy Clinic, Author
Ontario, Canada
Dr. Ben Bravery
Junior Doctor, currently training in Psychiatry. Sydney Australia. Patient, Zoologist, Author
Sydney, Australia
Catherine Crock, OAM
Haematologist, Founder and Chair of the Hush Foundation and the Gathering of Kindness
Melbourne, Australia
Dr. Dominic O. Vachon
Director of the Ruth M Hillebrand Centre for Compassionate Care in Medicine in the College of Science, University of Notre Dame, Psychologist, Author
Indiana, USA
Dr. Jonathan Fisher
(virtual)
Cardiologist, Organisational Well-Being Leader Novant Health, Author
North Carolina USA
Dr. Michelle Woolhouse
General Practitioner, Podcast Host of Fx-Medicine, Medical Director Vively, Author
Melbourne, Australia
Dr. Rhea Liang
Surgeon, Clinical Sub-Dean Bond University, Educator, Systems Change Leader
Gold Coast, Australia
Sharee Johnson
Founder and Managing Director of Coaching for Doctors, Registered Psychologist, Professional Coach, Author
Melbourne, Australia
Speaker
Speaker
Speaker
more to come...
Places at this event will be limited.
Voyages Resort is in remote outback Australia.
Registration for this event will open mid 2025.
Participants are encouraged to book their accommodation at the same time as registering for
The Heart of Medicine Gathering
as many of our EOI participants have expressed a desire to bring their families to Uluru
and accommodation nearby is limited
To ensure that you are the first to know make sure you complete the expression of interest below
We acknowledge Australia's First Peoples
Coaching for Doctors is based on Gunaikurnai country. We pay our respects and honour the traditional custodians of Country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to their ancestors, Elders past and present and to their emerging leaders. And recognise that this land was never ceded.
Our Country | Gunaikurnai Land and Waters
The Heart of Medicine Gathering and Retreat will take place on Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Country