Dr Max Moody

Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Dental Officer, Flight Lieutenant, Dr Max Moody, places the interests of others before himself in all that he does, both professionally and personally.

After completing his Bachelor of Oral Health in Dental Science, Max went on to complete further studies at Griffith, graduating from his Graduate Diploma of Dentistry in 2015. He has remained engaged with Griffith and his alumni community, despite his extensive travels and international deployments.

Dr Moody says his career in the RAAF has allowed him to pursue not just his passion for dentistry and oral health, but other passion areas such as community service, leadership and building global connections. Through his operational experience, training and leadership positions held within RAAF, Max has explored each of these areas in domestic and international settings. Most recently, he was deployed to Afghanistan as part of Australia’s contribution to the NATO-led Resolute Support train, advise and assist mission. Within a multinational hospital, he provided high quality dental services to Coalition military forces, contractors and local populations.

In recent months, Max has also trained non-medical providers in managing mild to moderate COVID-19 patients and assisted in ward patient management training for medical personnel.

“I’m fortunate with RAAF that I am able to gain operational, training and leadership positions that let me explore each of my passion areas here in Australia and overseas,” he says.

A career highlight for Dr Moody was his work on Exercise Kummundoo where he led a diverse team of RAAF personnel in working closely with Indigenous communities around Broome.

"The holistic approach to healthcare allowed me to implement the foundation skills I developed during my time at Griffith, skills like teamwork and understanding the way different health providers like dentists, doctors and specialists can all work collaboratively to improve the health and wellbeing of a community."

Less than 10 years since graduating from his undergraduate degree, he’s not only giving back to the local communities he is deployed to, but is also supporting the next generation of RAAF dental officers through mentoring them clinically and militarily.

“I’m passionate about leadership, coaching and mentoring, as I’ve seen the benefits it can have, not just to the individual, but also to the collective team or community.

“Ultimately, my goal is to create a positive influence on others to help them rise and adapt to future challenges – if I can do that for them, I’ll be doing the same myself,” said Dr Moody.

The culmination of his achievements and dedication to his community saw Dr Max Moody named as the Griffith Health 2020 Outstanding Young Alumnus winner.

"Griffith University provided such a strong foundation to establish the work I've gone on to do with the Air Force and beyond.

"Maintaining connection with the university through the Griffith alumni community has also presented a wonderful opportunity to give back and celebrate alumni achievements. Now more-so than ever, connection throughout the world is so important as we adapt to the ongoing pandemic.

"I look forward to continue engaging with the Griffith Alumni community and celebrating the success of all Griffith Alumni." Max said.