Dan Pronk

About the author

Dr Dan Pronk completed his medical schooling on an Australian Army scholarship and served the majority of his military career with Special Operations Units, including four tours of Afghanistan and over 100 combat missions. Dr Pronk was awarded the Commendation for Distinguished Service for his conduct in action on his second tour of Afghanistan. During his military service Dr Pronk served as an Australian medical liaison to the Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care, as well as representing Australian Special Operations at the NATO Special Operations Forces Medical Expert Panel. Dr Pronk holds a Fellowship with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, and is an instructor on the Royal Australian College of Surgeon's Early Management of Severe Trauma Course. Dr Pronk currently works as a Senior Medical Officer in the Emergency Department of a regional hospital and serves as the Medical Director for TacMed Australia, providing tactical medical advice and training to a number of Police Tactical Groups and Other Government Agencies.

Two key lessons I learned from Special Air Service selection

It’s fair to say that service with Special Forces changes a person and that the process of profound change commences on the selection course. Reflecting on the selection course that I underwent more than a decade ago, I can see that it was a pivotal point in my life both personally and professionally. I entered the Australian […]

Filling the void: Maslow and transitioning out of the military

This article is the second in a series of articles discussing the difficulties faced by service members transitioning out of the military. The first, titled “Abandoning the tribe: The psychology behind why veterans struggle to transition to civilian life,” covered some of the psychological theories at play as a military member becomes indoctrinated into their […]

Wounding patterns of blast injury (GRAPHIC IMAGES)

The wounding patterns of blast injuries are well known to any military medic who has served recently on operations, with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) constituting a significant proportion of the casualties on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. Sadly the IED threat is no longer confined to war zones, with a series of high profile, […]