When Dr Nelum Dharmapriya left the grey skies of Manchester for Brisbane, she was seeking a better life for her young family. What she didn’t expect was that the move would transform not just her career, but her entire approach to medicine.
In episode 4 of Medical Flyways podcast, Dr Nelum Dharmapriya speaks with Dr Srishti Dutta about her journey from the UK and arriving in Narangba, a rapidly growing suburb north of Brisbane.
Dr Dharmapriya became the first GP for a community seeking healthcare. Within two years, she and her husband had built their own medical centre from the ground up - a place where service, care, and community came first. “It was a real achievement,” she reflects. “From the doctors to the reception team, our focus has always been providing good service.”
Reversing Disease, One Patient at a Time
But her most profound shift came later, when her own health struggles during menopause revealed that the conventional advice that she followed, and gave to patients - wasn’t working. A diagnosis of pre-diabetes prompted her to dive deep into metabolic health. Through changes in diet and lifestyle, she reversed her condition, improved her wellbeing, and discovered a new passion for root-cause medicine.
That personal transformation soon flowed into her practice. Today, Dr Dharmapriya is helping patients reverse type 2 diabetes, come off blood pressure medications, and rediscover energy at every age; including an 83-year-old who, after just a month of lifestyle changes - shed medications and embraced new possibilities.
“To be able to deprescribe, to actually reverse conditions rather than just add more medications - that is massive,” she says.
A Voice for South Asian Health
As a Sri Lankan-born GP, Dr Nelum Dharmapriya is also a strong advocate for recognising the unique health risks facing South Asians in Australia, from earlier-onset diabetes to cardiovascular disease. It’s a message she hopes to amplify as she continues her work in Brisbane and beyond.
“South Asians make up around 8% of Australia’s population, and that number is growing,” she explains. “But our risk calculators don’t reflect this, and there’s very little research on South Asian women in particular. We need to change that.”
For Dr Dharmapriya, the move from Manchester to Brisbane was more than a change of weather. It was the start of a journey towards building a practice, a community, and a philosophy of care that is reshaping lives - including her own.
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