Dr Ben McHale

BSc, MB ChB, PG Cert Sports Med

ben

Ben currently lives in Rotorua and works as a General Practitioner (GP) Registrar. He graduated with his medical degree in 2010 and has always had a passion for sports medicine. In addition to gaining vital clinical experience, in both hospital and general practice settings, he has tried to get as much team and event experience as possible. Highlights include being team doctor for: the NZ Men’s Black Sticks at the Champions Trophy tournament in Malaysia; the NZ Men’s All Whites at the Nation’s Cup in Papua New Guinea and the NZ Women’s Football Ferns to the Olympic Games in Brazil. He has also had great experiences working with a number of major sporting events. Importantly, he is a competitive athlete across a range of sporting disciplines. This gives him a unique insight into the needs and challenges faced by sporting events and the athletes themselves. Ben is excited about the opportunity to establish Ascent Medical Support as one of New Zealand’s premier event medical support companies and looks forward to working with many more amazing events and athletes.

 

Ben’s event and sports medical experience:

Qualifications:

  • Bachelor of Science (BSc) 2005
  • Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MB ChB) 2010
  • Post Graduate Certificate in Sports Medicine (PG Cert) 2015

Previous team doctor experience:

  • Medical Director, Triathlon New Zealand
  • NZ Youth Commonwealth Games
  • NZ Men’s Black Sticks
  • NZ U-23 Football team
  • NZ All Whites
  • NZ Football Ferns (Olympic Games)
  • Novo Nordisk Cycling Team

Previous event doctor experience:

  • Tarawera Ultramarathon
  • Crankworx
  • NZ Ironman (Taupo)
  • Tour of Southland
  • NZ Cycle Classic
  • Auckland ITU Triathlon
  • NZ Women’s Trust House cycle tour
  • Cook Islands International Sevens rugby tournament
  • National Downhill MTB championships
  • Tauranga Half-ironman
  • Tarawera off road Marathon

Individual sporting achievements:

  • Duathlon: Previous elite men’s NZ and Oceania champion; competed at 2 elite world championships
  • Cycling: Competed in the Tour of Southland and NZ Cycle Classic; 1st 2015 Taupo-Rotorua 100km flyer; 3rd 2013 elite men’s K2 200km cycle race
  • Running: 2x national running representative; multiple regional, national and Oceania top 3 performances and titles for 800m/1500m/3000m, cross country and road races; 2014 and 2016 Round Rarotonga Road Race champion
  • Triathlon: 2014/2015 Rotorua Association of Triathlon and Multisport Club Champion; 3rd 2015 Cook Islands international triathlon