As a daughter Kate Forgan-Smith was a joy to her proud parents Jeffrey and Deborah, as a clinician and colleague she was respected and admired by her peers and mentors.
Though she sadly passed away from bowel cancer in 2023, Kate left her mark as a medical professional across four separate hospitals and countless patients and their families as both a medical student and clinician.
Before becoming a gastroenterologist at the PA Hospital (PA) Kate was school captain at Belmont State School before attending Brisbane Girls Grammar, and then the University of Queensland where she enrolled in a pre-med Bachelor of Science in Physiology.
Her drive to become a doctor and help others was perhaps inspired and sparked in her younger years by her father, himself a consulting physician. Through conversations around the dinner table and by seeing him undertake his own work in caring for patients, Kate developed an interest in medicine
“She used to come on ward rounds with me on a Saturday morning when she was between 8 and 12. I did that just for company and she was always enjoyable to have in the car and it didn't seem to worry her too much,” Dr Forgan-Smith said.
“On Christmas Day, if I was on call, my wife would make up some sort of Christmas gifts for each patient I had in hospital. I’d take both of our children in on Christmas Day, and they would give these small gifts to them. It was generally, rum balls and what have you. I'd walk in and say no diabetes today, and the children seemed to enjoy that. I think the reason that she chose medicine was because of the stories I told.”
After completing her pre-med Bachelor of Science in Physiology in 1999, Kate undertook the first year of her internship at Logan Hospital, before spending her second year at PA, which was where she developed her affinity for gastroenterology, under the guidance of Dr Katherine Stuart. As a medical student at PA, Kate was lucky enough to learn from her father, an opportunity Jeffrey remains incredibly grateful for.
“A lot of times there are subtle teaching experiences that students and young doctors have. It's often related to how their boss works. I had plenty of bosses that were bad examples of people that I wouldn't want to be like. They were rude or whatever to patients, but you also have people that you admire and look at as role models,” Dr Forgan-Smith said.
“She certainly felt that amongst the many of the gastroenterologists especially the female gastroenterologists, people that were bright and caring. They were able to make that balance between work and family life, which can be very difficult. And they were respectful to Kate and the other residents.
“They always were expected to do their work, but it was in a collegial sort of environment. I think all of that struck a chord, so she decided to apply to be a medical registrar, and she did that at PA as well.”
Kate was a talented and dedicated medical student passing both written and clinical exams on the first try, before applying to become a gastroenterologist and being accepted in that position at PA.
She was then sent away to practice and learn under the leadership of Dr Enrico Roche at Townsville Hospital for a year where she became accomplished in colonoscopies and endoscopies, before joining her then fiancé in Victoria where she completed her third-year training at Frankston Hospital.
During that time in Victoria an opportunity to undertake a 12-month clinical liver fellowship came up at the PA which Kate was successful in attaining, in 2017.
Upon completing the fellowship, PA’s Professor Gerald Holtman encouraged Kate to undertake a PhD, but she chose to focus on helping patients with her talent in the operating theatres and scoping suites.
Kate married and soon had her beloved daughter Haley, before the shock of a bowel cancer diagnosis in 2020. She fought incredibly hard but passed in October 2023.
“She was very well supported by the department and her colleagues; they kept in regular contact. I must say she faced her death very well. She was incredibly disappointed to leave her young family, Haley was only two when she died,” Dr Forgan-Smith lamented.
“Haley understands that her mother has passed on. Kate wrote letters to us all to be given to us after she died. In the letters, one of her requests was to teach her daughter about her, and now that she's four and understands the world a bit more, we do tell her stories about Kate that she always enjoys.
“I think Kate was sad that she missed out on much more experience in medicine. You go to work to try to do some good for people and she thoroughly enjoyed that. She was disappointed that her career was so short. But her biggest disappointment, of course, was leaving her daughter; that broke her heart.”
The Forgan-Smith family made a significant gift to the PA Research Foundation to establish a bursary in Kate’s name to honour her.
The Kate Forgan-Smith Memorial Bursary will be awarded each year up until 2044. It will enable the Clinical Liver Fellow/Fellows to attend an international conference each year to learn about the latest techniques, technology, and research in the field.
Since its establishment, the bursary has been given to three clinicians, Dr HooiLing Si in 2024 and Dr Ellie van der List and Dr Melissa Day in 2025.
PA Research Foundation’s Chief Executive Officer Damian Topp said the generosity shown by Jeffrey and Deborah is not only testament to the love they have for their daughter, but also their commitment to enabling Kate’s commitment to healthcare to live on.
“In choosing the Foundation as their place to give, the Forgan-Smith Family will enable clinicians to learn, collaborate, and grow their clinical insight so that thousands of patients will benefit. We cannot begin to thank them for their kindness, thoughtfulness, and foresight in seeing the impact they could have for others in Kate’s name.”
Kate is survived by her daughter Hayley, Hayley’s father Benny, her proud parents and brother David.
