Dijana is an experienced medical Speech Pathologist who specialises in the assessment of swallowing disorders (dysphagia). She qualified as a Speech Pathologist from the University of Canterbury New Zealand, in 1997. Dijana worked for 12 years in two major teaching hospitals in London (Charing Cross Hospital and The Royal Free Hospital) and at a Sydney teaching hospital (Royal North Shore Hospital) for 12 years where she introduced Speech Pathology led FEES to the Speech Pathology team. Dijana is a certified practising member of Speech Pathology Australia and abides by the associations code of ethics and profession standards.
Dijana obtained a PhD in dysphagia under the supervision of Distinguished Professor Maggie-Lee Huckabee at the University of Christchurch, New Zealand in 2024. She has taught the dysphagia unit at Charles Sturt University and contributed to the dysphagia unit at Australian Catholic University and University of Canterbury. She has also taught related subjects at University of Technology, Sydney (Motor Speech Disorders), City University London (Neurology for Speech and Language Therapists and Motor Speech Disorders) and Macquarie University (Clinical Education and Professional Practice).
Dijana has been performing FEES independently since 2006 and has taught FEES to the Speech Pathologists at many hospitals including Royal North Shore Hospital, Canberra Hospital, Mona Vale Hospital, Southport Private Hospital and Rankin Park Hospital. She also runs dysphagia and FEES workshops and provides clinical supervision and training for private/individual Speech Pathologists.
We assess people in Aged Care settings and are experienced in working with those who have cognitive impairment and/or limited mobility
