Michael Tam

Dr Michael Tam is a clinical academic Specialist General Practitioner, combining the provision of family medicine, research, health services development, and governance. Michael’s clinical interest is in the whole-person primary care of people living with mental illness. He is actively involved in mental health policy, strategy, and governance, with local, state, and national bodies. Michael’s research is in integrated care and preventive care in general practice. He has expertise in both qualitative and quantitative research methods.

Most commented posts

  1. Health Check: can you treat the common cold? — 6 comments
  2. Monday’s medical myth: take an aspirin a day after you turn 50 — 3 comments
  3. Quoted in ABC Life article, “Knowing when you should call into work sick with a cold or flu” — 3 comments
  4. Monday’s medical myth: cranberry juice prevents bladder infections — 2 comments
  5. Health Check: should we aim for daily bowel movements? — 2 comments

Author's posts

Aug 21 2013

What is stomach flu?

The following article was published in The Conversation. Explainer: what is stomach flu? By Michael Tam Nausea, vomiting, tummy pain and cramps, watery diarrhoea … We’ve all had acute gastroenteritis at some stage. As a general practitioner, my patients usually refer to their condition in more colloquial terms – “gastro”, “the runs”, “the trots”, “stomach flu”, …

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Jul 12 2013

Does zinc reduce the symptoms of the common cold?

This article was published in Medical Observer. The article is also available on the Medical Observer website (may need registration).

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Jul 06 2013

Detection of at-risk drinking – beliefs and attitudes of Australian GPs

Tam M, Zwar N, Markham R. Detection of at-risk drinking – beliefs and attitudes of Australian GPs. Presented at: Primary Health Care Research Conference; 2013 July 10; Sydney, Australia. Download abstract (PDF): click here Download poster (PDF): click here

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Jul 05 2013

99 & Counting: Medical Myths Debunked

My articles published in the Monday Medical Myth series on The Conversation were included in a paperback and e-book publication, “99 & Counting: Medical Myths Debunked”, edited by Helen Sykes & Fron Jackson-Webb. This series of articles was brainchild of Fron, who engaged with field experts to write on a commonly believed myth, explain where it might …

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Jun 24 2013

vitualis’ Medical Rants – Collections 2003-2013

vitualis’ Medical Rants – Collections 2003-2013 is a collection of articles, essays, letters and comments that I have written over the last 10 years. The book is divided into 10 parts – each section having a different flavour and style of writing.  The historical context of my experiences links the separate sections together. This book …

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May 24 2013

Is yoghurt helpful for antibiotic-associated diarrhoea?

This article was published in Medical Observer. The article is also available on the Medical Observer website (may need registration).

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