Alstonville Medical Centre has been part of the community since the 1980’s and we continue to provide professional, caring and evidence-based medicine to many generations of patients.
The Doctors are all specialists in General Practice and offer a wide range of experience and special interests to provide comprehensive medical care and services.
The doctors are supported by our invaluable Nursing team, Practice Manager and our friendly Reception staff.
We work with RACGP to support GP Registrars through their General Practice training and are proud of the medical education we have provided to the doctors we have had at our Practice, some of whom have continued to work with us after completing their training requirements. We also have medical students from The University of Sydney and Newcastle University Medical schools and enjoy teaching and providing medical experience for these students. We will always let you know if a medical student will be involved in your care. Please let us know if you would prefer not to have a medical student in your consultation with your doctor.
We are experienced in providing both acute and chronic medical care and many of our doctors have special interests including skin cancer management, women’s health and musculoskeletal medicine.
Doctors
Dr John Watts
MB.ChB, FRACGP, D.Obst.
Dr John Watts settled into the Alstonville community in early 2005 with his family. His interests have been moulded by his early career experiences in Surgery, Obstetrics and service provided in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. He maintains a special interest in skin cancer diagnosis and management along with the full range of general family medicine.
"General Practice has been extremely rewarding. Developing professional relationships and being part of the health and illness journey of my patients has been a real privilege. It has allowed me to continue my wide and varied interests in family medicine and surgery."
Dr Watts Graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Human Biology in 1981 and the combined degree of Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery in 1984. He obtained a Diploma in Obstetrics in 1986 and then his Fellowship of the Royal Australia College of General Practice in 2001.
His interests outside of medicine include cycling, hiking, wildlife photography, camping and remote travel.
Dr Linda Brown
B.Med (Newcastle), FRACGP, FACRRM
Dr Linda Brown grew up in Canberra, splitting her time between school in town and the family farm. She graduated from the University of Newcastle and did her internship in Tamworth where she met and married her farmer/husband. Rural General Practice was the logical career choice and she worked in North Western NSW for 17 years delivering babies, working in General Practice and providing Emergency care in the small rural hospital. She spent time travelling with her young family around Australia and working for the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Queensland.
Linda has been at Alstonville Medical Centre since 2007 where she continues her interest in Women’s and Children’s Health, Mental Health and rural Health. She also works in Medical Education, involved in the teaching of Medical Students and General Practice Registrars.
When not at work, Linda can be found cooking, gardening, training for long distance walks or chasing the cows at home.
Dr Kerrilee Lake
MBBS, B.Ap.Sc (Physio), Dip Ch H, Cert FPNSW, FRACGP
Kerrilee has worked at Alstonville Medical Centre since 2009, starting as a GP registrar and continuing on, after completing her GP training and obtaining her Fellowship of The Royal Australian College of General Practice in 2012. She became a partner in 2016, joining Dr Traise, Dr Watts and Dr Brown, and is proud to be part of the great team that is committed to providing high standards of medical care for our Alstonville community.
Kerrilee enjoys all aspects of General Practice and loves working in the diverse Northern Rivers. She is committed to providing equal care to all, regardless of age, ability, gender, gender identity, sexuality, religion, race or ethnic origin.
Kerrilee also has a degree in Physiotherapy and a special interest in treating musculoskeletal conditions and injuries and is happy to treat patients with Workcover injuries. She has a Diploma of Child Health and a Certificate in Family Planning and has worked at Lismore Base Hospital in both the Obstetric and Paediatric Departments. She enjoys working with families and children and loves antenatal care. Kerrilee has training in IUD placement and is qualified to insert both Mirena and Copper IUD's.
In her spare time Kerrilee spends time with her family and friends and keeps fit with Crossfit and Netball.
Dr Ian Traise
B.Med (Newcastle), FRACGP
Dr Ian Traise has been a General Practitioner at Alstonville Medical Centre since 1991, having graduated from the University of Newcastle in 1985, and then qualifying with the Fellowship of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners in 1991.
As a family doctor with many years of experience in the small country town of Alstonville, he has a broad experience in the medical care of the many and various health problems. At present, much of his time is taken up with the management of chronic disease, in evidence-based preventative health, and skin cancer management.
Dr Traise has been the main supervisor for our GP Registrars, who each spend 6-12 months at Alstonville Medical Centre as part of their specialist training to become General Practitioners. In 18 years of such mentoring and teaching, it is pleasing that 20 or more, fully qualified GPs have spent their formative years at Alstonville Medical Centre.
In addition to his work at Alstonville Medical Centre, Dr Traise has spent 7 years as a Royal Australian Navy Medical Officer (Reserves); and for the last 10 years worked part time as a Medical Officer at Lismore Base Emergency Department. Dr Traise regularly visits the Philippines, where he does medical work for disadvantaged children with a Christian charity in Manila.
When not practising as a GP, he enjoys cycling, reading, slowly restoring a vintage car, and the quiet country life.
Dr Jody Reinbott
MBBS, B.Econ, B.Bus, FRACGP
Dr Reinbott studied medicine at the University of Queensland graduating in 2008. He completed his internship at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane and during his residency years while on rural medicine term he made the decision to pursue a career in General Practice. He moved to the Northern Rivers to complete his training and after receiving his fellowship in 2014 he has stayed on at the Alstonville Medical Centre. In addition to the Medical Centre he also visits Maranoa Nursing Home.
Dr Paul Eason
MBBS, FRACGP
Dr Paul Eason graduated from Griffith University Medical School in 2012 and completed general practice training in 2017.
He enjoys all aspects of general practice with special interests in chronic disease management, children’s health, sports injury management, men’s health and palliative care.
Dr Melissa Kavanagh-Patel
MB.ChB, FRACGP, GCSpMed
Dr Melissa Kavanagh-Patel graduated from The University of Edinburgh in 2012, she then worked in a number of hospital specialties for 2 years in the UK before moving to Australia. She spent 2.5 years working in the Emergency Department at Lismore Base Hospital before joining the GP training program in 2017.
Melissa has a keen interest in sports injuries and musculoskeletal medicine, which stems from her years as an international tennis player. She achieved a Graduate Certificate in Sports Medicine from The University of Queensland in 2017.
When not at work Melissa is passionate about rural living and can be found tending to her veggie garden, chickens or her Highland “Coos”.
Dr Peter Leck
MBBS, BHA
Has experience in Paediatrics as well as general medical, surgical and trauma presentations.
I have abroad medical experience as a result of basic physician training and employment as a medical registrar as well as radiation oncology training.
Dr Rachel Jefferies
MB Bch., FRACGP., DCH
Dr Rachel Jefferies graduated from Cardiff University in the UK in 2008.
Rachel then worked in several surgical specialties before moving to Australia in 2010, where she undertook her GP training completing her fellowship in 2015 while working at Alstonville Medical Centre. Rachel then moved back to the UK to have her family and while there she worked in Emergency Medicine for 6 years. She returned to the area and Alstonville Medical Centre in 2021 where she has now settled with her family.
Rachel enjoys all areas of General Practice but particularly enjoys removing skin lesions and seeing children, she completed a Diploma in Child Health in 2016.
Rachel has worked in Nigeria, Zambia, Malawi, and Uganda and has a passion for training healthcare workers in countries with a less developed health system.
Dr Albert Eisler
B.BSc., MBBS
Dr Albert studied at the Australian National University in Canberra and graduated in 2020.
After training as a junior doctor in Canberra he came back to work and complete General Practice training in the local region where he grew up.
Practice Manager
Megan Savins
Dip.Pract.Mgt., JP., MAAPM
Megan has worked in general practice since 1981. She obtained a Diploma in Practice Management through the University of New England in 2000. Megan has also completed the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment and the Certificate IV in Accounting and Bookkeeping.
Megan lives in the local area with her husband on their cattle property and enjoys breeding cattle and sheep and shows pure breed poultry.
Nursing Staff
Reception Staff
