Dr David Harding

National Head of Student Matters and Selection, Senior Lecturer
BA(Hons), MClinPsych, PhD 

Email: david.harding@nd.edu.au

  • Biography

    Dr David Harding came to the Notre Dame School of Medicine in 2023 as the National Head of Student Matters and Selection. He has over 30 years of experience working in a variety of government and non-government community health and hospital settings. Dr. Harding has been involved in the establishment of both mood disorder and specialised trauma-related treatment programs at several hospitals. He is also a consultant to the world's largest disaster management company and has been deployed to various major international disasters. Dr. Harding has served as a consultant clinician to both the Family Court of Australia and the NSW Children’s Court Clinic and has held various academic appointments. These have included as a Clinical Senior Lecturer, Discipline of Psychiatry, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, and Senior Lecturer at Charles Sturt University. He obtained a PhD from the School of Medicine at Western Sydney University, where he was the first post-graduate student in a new medical school, and whose research was pivotal in developing the school’s medical student selection system.

  • Teaching Areas

    • Mental Health
    • Psychotherapy

  • Research Expertise and Supervision

    • Spectrum of psychological trauma
    • Medical Student Selection

  • Journal articles and proceedings

    • Rooney K, Hunt C, Humphreys L, Harding D, Mullen M, Kearney J. A test of the assumptions of the transtheoretical model in a post-traumatic stress disorder population. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy. 2005;12(2):97-111.
    • Rooney K, Hunt C, Humphreys L, Harding D, Mullen M, Kearney J. Prediction of outcome for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder using constructs from the transtheoretical model of behaviour change. Aust NZ J Psychiatry. 2007 Jul;41(7):590-7
    • Griffin B, Harding DW, Wilson IG, Yeomans ND. Does practice make perfect? The effect of coaching and retesting on selection tests used for admission to an Australian medical school. Medical Journal of Australia. 2008;189(5):270-3.
    • Harding DW, Wilson I. Medical school selection criteria and the prediction of academic performance. Medical Journal of Australia. 2008;189(4):234-5.
    • Wilson I, Harding DW. I will only work from 2.00 to 5.00. Medical Education. 2009;43(5):394-5.
    • Wilson I, Harding D, Griffin B, Yeomans N. Lack of bias in MMI. Medical Teacher. 2009;31(10):959.
    • Narchal, R., Cowin, L. S., Wilson, I., & Harding, D. (2012). First of the First: Medical Students' Reflections of Personal Growth. International Journal of Learning, 18(4).
    • Narchal, R., Cowan, L. S., Wilson, I. G., & Harding, D. W. (2013). Becoming a medical student. The International Journal Of Pedagogy And Curriculum, 19(2), 140-149.

  • Conference papers

    • 2015: Treating ambiguity and ambivalence: Innovative strategies for adolescents with severe and treatment-resistant mental illness: Paper presented at 16th International European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Madrid, Spain.
    • 2014: Innovative strategies for adolescents with severe and treatment-resistant mental illness: Paper presented at 21st World Congress of International Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions, Durban, South Africa.
    • 2012: Workshop on development & implementation of MMI: at Ottawa conference, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
    • 2010: Developing and Implementing the MMI: at AMEE International Conference on medical education, Glasgow Scotland.
    • 2009: Fine Tuning the Multiple Mini Interview [MMI] at AMEE International Conference on medical education, Malaga, Spain.
    • 2008: Poster presentation at OZZAWA International Conference on Medical Education.
    • 2008: Seminar on selection of medical students at ANZAME Conference, Sydney.
    • 2008: Seminar on selecting medical students at AMEE International Conference on medical education, Prague, Czech Republic.
    • 2006: Conduct Kenyon International emergency response worker training program in Dubai, UAE.
    • 2005: Invited presentation at Kenyon International emergency response worker training program in Sydney.
    • 2004: Invited presentation at Mass Fatality exercise, Gatwick Airport, United Kingdom.
    • 2002: Wesley Private Hospital: Invited CME lecture on “Dealing with Adolescent Violence” to Psychiatrists and General Practitioners.
    • 2002: New Children’s Hospital: Invited lecture on “Treatment of Psychological Trauma in Children”.
    • 2001: Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatry [RANZCP] Annual Conference: Invited Seminar on programatic treatment of PTSD in Vietnam Veterans.
    • 2000: Australian Psychological Society, College of Forensic Psychology, 1st annual conference: Invited workshop on forensic issues in the assessment and diagnosis of PTSD in children and adults.
    • 1999: Invited workshop on the treatment of Conduct Disorders at University of Newcastle.
    • 1998: Invited workshop presentation at the Association of Independent School Counsellors Annual Conference.Topic: "Tactics and Techniques in Anger Management".
    • 1998: Invited workshop at AHISA Conference: "Grief in the School Community”.
    • 1998: Seminar on the assessment and treatment of Conduct Disorders at the New Childrens' Hospital, Westmead.
    • 1998: Invited seminar on "dealing with difficult children", for health and related professionals at Royal North Shore Hospital on dealing with difficult children.
    • 1997: Invited to conduct workshop on the assessment and treatment of stress and trauma-related disorders in children for the Faculty of Science at the  University of Sydney.
    • 1996: Invited to conduct in-service training for psychologists in the NSW Department of Juvenile Justice: Forensic; Sex Offender; and Violent Offender training programmes.
    • 1985: Paper presented at the annual conference of the Australian Pain Society, reporting an evaluation study of the Macquarie University Pain Education Programme.

  • Professional affiliations

    • Australian & New Zealand Association for Health Professional Educators (ANZAHPE).
    • International Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and Allied Professionals (IACAPAP).
    • Waranara, special interest research group, Sydney Medical School.
    • Association of child and adolescent mental health (ACAMH)