As a boy, Norman Swirsky was raised in relative poverty (dad was a musician) in a Jewish family living in Glasgow. When he was 10 years old, his dad changed the family's surname to Swan in a response to ongoing anti-Semitism in Scotland after WW2. Young Norman Swan wanted to be an actor growing up, but his parents encouraged him to study medicine. He graduated in medicine from the University of Aberdeen and later obtained his postgraduate qualifications in Paediatrics. After that, he spent time working in London before moving to Australia.
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Norman Swan's core missions were indeed brave. Firstly he wanted to give people the information and insights they needed to make the best decisions about their health, usually information that only doctors had. And secondly, as a health journalist and in the tradition of the Fourth Estate, his role was to hold those who provide and fund healthcare to account.
On television, Dr Swan has hosted ABC television's science program, Quantum, and has been a guest reporter on Catalyst and Four Corners. He hosted Health Dimensions on ABC Television, and created, wrote and narrated a four part series on disease and civilisation, Invisible Enemies, made for Channel 4(UK) and SBS Television. This was shown in 27 countries! He also co-wrote and narrated The Opposite Sex, a four part series for ABC Television.
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Outside Australia, Dr Swan has been the Australian correspondent for the Journal of the American Medical Association, the British Medical Journal and has consulted for the World Health Organisation in Geneva. [NB he was brutally criticised by American conservatives. Rush Limbaugh emphasised that Covid-19 was being "weaponised" by Swan in the Australian media to bring down Donald Trump].
Dr Norman Swan in Sydney
While on a break from medicine in 1982 he joined the ABC and began a stellar career as one of the first medically qualified journalists in Australia. His career was highlighted by his desire to keep the Australian public informed of health developments as they happen, combining medical expertise with journalism.
Since then Dr Swan has won numerous awards for his work as presenter of the Health Report on ABC Radio National and created the Health Minutes on NewsRadio. Note that the Health Report has been the world’s longest running health programme in the English-speaking world. He also edited his own newsletter, The Choice Health Reader, published with the Australian Consumers Association. Most of all, he earned my respect as an articulate, community-minded doctor.
Swan was a multi-award winning producer, broadcaster & investigative journalist. He was Australian Radio Producer of the Year in 1984 and was awarded a Gold Citation in the United National Media Peace Prizes for his radio work. He has won 3 Walkley National Awards for Australian journalism including the Gold, and twice won Australia's top prize for Science Journalism, the Michael Daly Award.
A famous example of Dr Swan's work was his much publicised and controversial investigative programme on scientific fraud and the well-known gynaecologist Dr William McBride. In 1987, based on evidence from a Foundation 41 biologist in an analysis for ABC’s Science Show, Dr Swan bravely stated that Dr McBride had failed to scientifically record the amount of drug the experimental animals received. Swan won a Walkley award for his research, while McBride’s career moved in the other direction. In 2004 he was awarded the Medal of the Australian Academy of Science, a rare honour, and the Royal College of Physicians of Glasgow made him a Fellow.
Since then Dr Swan has won numerous awards for his work as presenter of the Health Report on ABC Radio National and created the Health Minutes on NewsRadio. Note that the Health Report has been the world’s longest running health programme in the English-speaking world. He also edited his own newsletter, The Choice Health Reader, published with the Australian Consumers Association. Most of all, he earned my respect as an articulate, community-minded doctor.
Swan was a multi-award winning producer, broadcaster & investigative journalist. He was Australian Radio Producer of the Year in 1984 and was awarded a Gold Citation in the United National Media Peace Prizes for his radio work. He has won 3 Walkley National Awards for Australian journalism including the Gold, and twice won Australia's top prize for Science Journalism, the Michael Daly Award.
A famous example of Dr Swan's work was his much publicised and controversial investigative programme on scientific fraud and the well-known gynaecologist Dr William McBride. In 1987, based on evidence from a Foundation 41 biologist in an analysis for ABC’s Science Show, Dr Swan bravely stated that Dr McBride had failed to scientifically record the amount of drug the experimental animals received. Swan won a Walkley award for his research, while McBride’s career moved in the other direction. In 2004 he was awarded the Medal of the Australian Academy of Science, a rare honour, and the Royal College of Physicians of Glasgow made him a Fellow.
Norman Swan's core missions were indeed brave. Firstly he wanted to give people the information and insights they needed to make the best decisions about their health, usually information that only doctors had. And secondly, as a health journalist and in the tradition of the Fourth Estate, his role was to hold those who provide and fund healthcare to account.
On television, Dr Swan has hosted ABC television's science program, Quantum, and has been a guest reporter on Catalyst and Four Corners. He hosted Health Dimensions on ABC Television, and created, wrote and narrated a four part series on disease and civilisation, Invisible Enemies, made for Channel 4(UK) and SBS Television. This was shown in 27 countries! He also co-wrote and narrated The Opposite Sex, a four part series for ABC Television.
Dr Swan addressing a conference
NSW Health Symposium, 2014Outside Australia, Dr Swan has been the Australian correspondent for the Journal of the American Medical Association, the British Medical Journal and has consulted for the World Health Organisation in Geneva. [NB he was brutally criticised by American conservatives. Rush Limbaugh emphasised that Covid-19 was being "weaponised" by Swan in the Australian media to bring down Donald Trump].
The advent of Covid-19 has changed everyone’s lives and it also thrust Norman Swan into the key role in his career: he became Australia's most well-known doctor and a trusted voice in the long pandemic. He co-created a hit with his daily 10-minute podcast with health reporter Tegan Taylor called Coronacast. They provided the latest evidence on the pandemic by responding to questions from the audience, and last year it won a Walkley Award. In 2021 he published a book about general health to guide people beyond the pandemic: So You Think You Know What's Good For You?.
Dr Swan has been involved a range of topics on health based on his many years in medical research. But his greatest ability was as a very skilled facilitator who tackled the most specialised of conferences, challenging ideas to raise the level of debate. Now download the podcast The life of Dr Norman Swan
Dr Swan has been involved a range of topics on health based on his many years in medical research. But his greatest ability was as a very skilled facilitator who tackled the most specialised of conferences, challenging ideas to raise the level of debate. Now download the podcast The life of Dr Norman Swan
by Dr Joe