Dr Joan Buchanan (October 26, 1932 - April 9, 2024)
Dr Joan Buchanan, who has died aged 91, already knew she wanted to practise medicine when she was five, a clue perhaps to the remarkable person she was, a woman who achieved so much in what was then a man's world.
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Canberrans will remember her for her general practice in Fisher that she set up in 1975 and ran for 28 years.
She finally relinquished the practice in 2002 when she retired from her beloved medicine to nurse her ailing husband, orthopaedic surgeon Dr Reg Kitchin who died in 2012, and to spend more time with her family.
Joan also had a deep sense of what's right and Canberrans may also remember her for what her family lovingly refer to as "Joan letters", letters drafted on any subject Joan felt moved to bring to the attention of our elected representatives, the bureaucracy and on occasions to the editor of this paper.
If you received a Joan letter, be assured it was sent in by a thoughtful, highly intelligent and well-intentioned writer, and most likely provided you with a pragmatic and sensible way forward.
Joan's strong sense of what's right, and her wonderful humanitarian approach to life, were fashioned by her early years and experiences in South Africa under apartheid.
She was born in Germiston and was one of six siblings. Her father, Kelsey Buchanan, was a journalist and public relations manager, and her mother, Dale Buchanan (née Nichols), worked as a secretary. In their later years Joan's parents edited and produced the magazine Rotary in Africa.
Joan attended a very progressive all-girls school, Kingsmead College in Johannesburg, which encouraged tolerance, multiculturalism, self-reliance and respect, promoting the strength of women in all walks of life. She excelled at sports and became head girl of the school in her final year.
She was deeply grateful to her parents who, in an age when women were not encouraged to enter professions, were willing to pay university fees and support her through medical school.
In those years she was one of six women in a class of 90 students studying medicine. She was an excellent swimmer, played hockey for Witwatersrand University, and was a member of the Students Representative Council during very troubled political times in South Africa.
Joan met Reg Kitchin at university and they married in January 1955. Pregnant with their eldest child in her final months of medical school, Joan graduated in 1956.
With her newborn daughter, she travelled to England to allow Reg to do his fellowship at the Royal College of Surgeons. Joan did her internship at the same time during which their second daughter was born.
On their return to South Africa, two further daughters were born while Joan and Reg worked at a mission hospital in Zululand (now KwaZulu). With the unrelenting pursuit of the government to enforce apartheid, themselves being under police surveillance and not wanting their children to grow up in the oppressive apartheid regime, Reg, Joan and their four young children emigrated to Australia in 1962.
In Australia, Reg worked at Newcastle hospital as an orthopaedic registrar. Joan cared for the four children until they moved to Canberra in 1963. Canberra's population was 37,000 at the time and Reg became the tiny city's second orthopaedic surgeon.
Joan's final two children were born in Canberra while she worked as a GP.
Initially she worked with a colleague and then in her own practice in Fisher. It was particularly after her retirement she became active in lobbying for the aged care sector.
She was a role model for the emerging strong independent women of the 20th century, and the 21st century, the female doctor in a male-dominated field, the active woman challenging many norms of a patriarchal world, and yet she also lived a life of traditional roles.
In some ways there were great contradictions in Joan's life. She was a role model for the emerging strong independent women of the 20th century, and the 21st century, the female doctor in a male-dominated field, the active woman challenging many norms of a patriarchal world, and yet she also lived a life of traditional roles. She was the primary carer of children - in line with many expectations of that generation. She prioritised her husband's career over her own, was fiercely loyal to Reg and believed a primary role of her life was to support him in all he did.
And this created a special superwoman who did it all. She raised six children, ran a general practice while also being immersed in the many activities of the church and Canberra community.
Faith played a big part in Joan's life. Her deep conviction to address aspects of social justice plus her love of community led her to undertake key roles in her local church, St Alban's. She was a member of the board of St Mark's National Theological Centre in Barton. Over many years, she was:
- Chair of the Parish Council;
- Chair of the St Mark's Theological College Board of Studies;
- A member the St Mark's Council and Friends of St Mark's;
- On the committee for the selection of priests in the Diocese;
- Chair of the committee for the formulation of the Code of Good Conduct; and
- A member of the Professional Standards Committee.
She was awarded a Dame in the Order of Lazarus for her work with the church. She also received the ACT International Women's Day Award in 2002 and in 2004 was became a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for "service to medicine and to the community, particularly in the area of aged care".
Dr Joan Buchanan is survived by five of her six children and their families, including 13 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
