Dr Tom Benjamin
Ajunct Lecturer
Adelaide Medical School
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
Adelaide Medical School. Interest areas include social prescribing, gamification, and medical consumer advocacy. As part of social prescribing a focus on music-making activities for the general public.
I am a member of the Adelaide University ThincLab and an Affiliate with the Robinson Research Institute. My focus area in the Health sector is currently on the emerging area of social prescribing. This is based on many earlier research and clinical careers in the Health and Education sectors.
I have continued to present data and archival material to relevant parliamentary and media inquiries based on my investigations into the mental health sector as a NSW Government Research Officer. These can be found on Parliamentary sites, including submissions I prepared on behalf of the Medical Consumers Association.
I was later a senior research officer in Learning Innovation with NSW Education & Communities. In that and earlier roles I had developed multimedia techniques based on emerging digital resources and gamification, including an Australian Innovation Patent and a conference award, which have formed the basis for a Non-profit Association demonstrating these techniques for community groups https://www.facebook.com/groups/playbyearassociation
I have subsequently presented to Singing for Health and Musicology - publications on a Play-by-Ear method, summarized for the Association in commons e-books
The Play by Ear Music Curriculum: https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/113648/overview
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Appointments
Date Position Institution name 2023 - ongoing member - 2023 Musicological Society of Australia 2020 - ongoing member ThincLab, University of Adelaide 2019 - ongoing Adjunct Lecturer Robinson Research Institute 1992 - ongoing President Medical Consumers Association (MCA) -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title University of New South Wales Australia PhD Michigan State University United States MBA -
Research Interests
Child and Adolescent Health Innovative Therapeutics Neuroscience, Behaviour and Brain Health Surgical and Health Systems Innovation Health Care Administration Health Economics Health Information Systems Health policy evaluation Health services and systems Medical Ethics Mental Health Multimedia Programming Music technology and recording Musicology and Ethnomusicology Public Health and Health Services
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Patents
Year Citation 2016 Benjamin, T. (2016). 2016101313 1, Australian Innovation Patent #2016101313 1 TITLE: MUSIC LEARNING SYSTEM BASED ON OPEN STRING AND ONE-FINGER CHORDS. Australia.
The Medical Consumers Association was founded by my University of NSW colleagues in 1976. I joined MCA in the 1990s, as a result of his commission by the NSW Government to investigate allegations about mental health services. I have served as MCA President in the 21st Century, at full arms-length from my government and university employments. The advocacy role that had dominated the MCA's activities in the 1990s was eventually taken over by the state and federal government complaints commissions and registration bodies. Those of us as the remaining MCA Executive gradually transformed the MCA into a social media group, allowing it to continue uniquely independent of any funding, with the administrative activities now handled with domestic software and free social media such as Facebook and YouTube. The MCA focus is currently on social prescribing. Workshops are run with free Zoom resources and Parliamentary submissions are email exercises. We have been able to gain free venues for community events in lieu of grants. The MCA maintains an extensive archive of correspondence unseen by the public, made available to appropriate media and government investigations. In addition to lobbying and advocacy the MCA organisation structure has been adapted to host a social participation arm demonstrating digital multimedia techniques useful to unfunded and non-profit community groups to spread their message with low-cost videos, documentaries, and online workshops. The Non-profit training arm of MCA is now https://www.facebook.com/groups/playbyearassociation
To facilitate community participation in recreational and multimedia activities I have formed a Non-profit Association
The Association has a corresponding YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@PlaybyEarAssociation-wp4jx
and a listing as a South Australian community organisation
https://sacommunity.org/org/238804-Play_by_Ear_Association
The methods are unique as they can be delivered online with low resource requirements. Free e-books have been published as resources for the Association and as detailed references to accompany live local Adelaide sessions and international Zoom sessions.
The Magic of Play by Ear: https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:65903/
https://hcommons.org/deposits/objects/hc:65904/datastreams/CONTENT/content
The Play by Ear Music Curriculum
https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/113648/overview
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