Profile

Dr Marlene Tham
Weight Management Doctor

MBBS FRACGP GCertAppFin CFTe


Dr Marlene Tham

Dr Marlene Tham is a GP and a fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Her background includes working in gyms from a very young age and also playing hockey at National level. She has a strong academic background having done obesity research at the Mental Health Research Institute and has presented at conferences at both a National and International level winning numerous prizes and awards for her contribution to obesity.

Marlene is a weight management and metabolic doctor specialising in treating obesity, weight management, metabolic syndrome and mental health. Dr Tham is the RACGP Victorian Obesity Management Network representative. She has also launched Medical & Mind Weight Loss, online weight loss programs based on evidence medical research. These are dietary, exercise and psychological programs for both who do not wish to travel or want to manage their weight online.

Marlene completed her degree in medicine and surgery (MBBS) at the University of Adelaide (2000) and completed her General Practice fellowship in Victoria (FRACGP) in 2006. She has always had an interest in weight management even from an early age by working in gyms and running weight management programmes as a medical student to fund her way through medical school. The rising obesity levels lead her to Melbourne where she worked at the metabolic clinic at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and did extensive training in cognitive behaviour therapy which she uses for weight management as well as for depression, anxiety and stress. She is listed on the Beyond Blue website as a GP with a special interest in mental illness and weight management.

In 2007, Marlene was a recipient of the prestigious City of Melbourne Small Business Grant, where she was given funds to set up the Redefine™ Programme. This grant is given to new innovative and sustainable business ideas that are considered to add to the Melbourne community in a special way.

In 2010, she was a finalist in 3 categories at the Telstra Business Women's Awards. (Best company, most innovative and Young Business Owner) for the Redefine™ Programme.

Between 2002 and 2006, Marlene embarked on an academic career entering obesity research with Professor David Castle at the Mental Health Institute in Parkville and with Professor Doris Young at the University of Melbourne. With Professor David Castle, she published a study titled “The impact of psychotropics on weight gain” in the International Journal of Mental Health. At Melbourne University, Marlene worked as an academic at the Department of General Practice where her study, “The role of the General Practitioner in weight management in primary care” was presented at both domestic and International conferences and included a prize of being “Best Presenter” at the General Practice and Primary Health Care Conference in 2006 and the 2007 Registrar Research Award in which she was invited to present at the 5th Health Services and Policy Research Conference in Auckland 2007. This study is published in the online research journal BioMedCentral.

She is currently also working on the Mental Health Unit at Epworth Camberwell doing medical and metabolic consultations for inpatients.

As an overweight adolescent and teenager, Marlene learnt through her own experience that maintaining a healthy weight was not easy. Being sick of not fitting in the clothes she wanted and disliking the way her body hindered her sporting career , Marlene embarked on her own journey of research and experimentation to get down to her ideal weight. It is from these early days that she realised that she enjoyed developing effective strategies and methods to manage weight. As a mother of two now, Marlene has full understanding of the difficulties that post pregnancy weight gain, limited time and work life balance has on maintaining a healthy weight.

Marlene's sporting career includes representing her state and Australia in underage junior hockey and also at Women's National Hockey League level. She also taught aerobics, tai-bo, body pump and specialised in an abdominal muscle programme for many years. Her interests include middle distance running, watching live sport and enjoying fine dining.


Dr Terence Chong
Psychiatrist


Dr Terence Chong

Dr Chong completed his Medical (2000) and Master of Psychiatry (2006) degrees at The University of Melbourne and has attained Fellowship of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (2009).

His current clinical appointments include Consultant Psychiatrist at The Royal Melbourne Hospital and St Vincent's Hospital networks He is also a Lecturer and Research Fellow at The University of Melbourne Department of Psychiatry with his area of research including Physical Activity and Cognition and Huntington's disease. His paper “Physical activity program preferences and perspectives of older adults with and without cognitive impairment” was published in Asia- Pacific Psychiatry.

His special interests include binge eating syndrome, memory disorders, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) especially related to food and other Anxiety Disorders. He does psychotherapy including Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for anxiety and binge eating syndrome.



The Team

Dr Marlene Tham works with a team of experienced professionals in the areas of diet, exercise and mind. It is her role to create a team that best suits your circumstances, medical conditions and goals.