Description
About Dan Pronk keynote speaker
Dan Pronk keynote speaker sessions come from a medical doctor who served as a combat doctor with Australia’s Special Air Service Regiment. Dr Dan Pronk spent 15 years in the Australian Army, the last five in Special Operations. Today he shows audiences how to build resilience that holds under real pressure, using a clinically grounded, evidence-based model.
From Army scholarship to SAS combat doctor
Dan studied medicine at Flinders University on an Army scholarship. After that, he served with high-readiness infantry units before passing SAS selection. He deployed on operations five times, once to Timor and four times to Afghanistan. In Afghanistan he served as a combat doctor on more than 100 missions with the SASR and the 2nd Commando Regiment.
He received a Commendation for Distinguished Service for his conduct in combat on his second tour. He also represented the Australian Army on the NATO Special Operations Forces Medical Expert Panel.
Medical leadership after the Army
Dan left the full-time Army in 2014 and moved into medical leadership. First, he was Deputy Medical Superintendent of a regional Queensland hospital. He then became Medical Director of the South Australian Prison Health Service. Along the way he completed an MBA, his FRACGP and an Associate Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators.
Today he is Medical Director of TacMed Australia. He also works in emergency medicine and advises police and government agencies as a tactical medical consultant. In addition, television audiences know him as “Dr Dan”, the resident medic on Channel Seven’s SAS Australia.
Dan wrote the memoir The Combat Doctor. He also co-authored the best-seller The Resilience Shield with his brother Ben Pronk DSC and fellow SAS veteran Tim Curtis.
Dan Pronk keynote speaker topic: Building Your Resilience Shield
Many people think resilience is something you either have or you don’t. Dan knows otherwise. He describes himself as an average guy with average grades who trained his way through SAS selection. Later, he found that leaving the Army tested him more than war ever had.
His conclusion is backed by clinical evidence. Resilience is dynamic, and it can be measured and built. Drawing on The Resilience Shield model, this keynote shows audiences how to:
- Strengthen their defences across five areas: biological, psychological, social, professional and spiritual
- Turn big goals into daily progress with grit, clear goals and a refusal to quit
- Perform under pressure through realistic training and honest after-action reviews
- Recover from setbacks and turn hard experiences into growth
Dan has delivered this message to mining, health, emergency services and corporate audiences. Recent engagements include the AusIMM International Mine Ventilation Congress, Rural Medicine Australia and the Monash Health R U OK? forum.
Book Dan Pronk keynote speaker for your next conference or leadership event. Explore more speakers in Resilience and Wellbeing, or read how Dan rebuilt himself after war in this ABC News feature.
