The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) pays heartfelt tribute to Dr John Mickan AM, honouring his life, legacy, and remarkable contribution to health care in South Australia’s remote communities.
Dr Mickan was the last surviving member of the pioneering trio of doctors, alongside the late Dr Robert Cooter AM and Dr John Thompson OAM, who helped establish the RFDS Port Augusta Base in 1955.
Together, they laid the foundation for the life-saving service that continues to operate across rural and remote Australia.
The trio agreed to provide medical services to remote communities at their practice’s expense on a rotating on-call basis, while also serving the 82-bed Port Augusta Hospital.
With no procedural specialists in Port Augusta at the time, the doctors carried the full surgical load – performing over 1,000 operations and delivering around 350 babies each year.
Dr Mickan, Dr Cooter and Dr Thompson were honoured by the RFDS in 2010, with a dedication to Our Inaugural Doctors badged on an RFDS PC-12 aircraft.
“Dr Mickan devoted two decades of service to the RFDS and was a deeply respected figure across South Australian communities” RFDS SA/NT Chief Executive Tony Vaughan ASM said.
“Together, our inaugural doctors pioneered a model of care that included daily routine and emergency consultations via phone and radio, as well as monthly fly-in clinics to outposts like Andamooka, Oodnadatta and Marree — a model we proudly continue to this day.
“They also responded to numerous emergency callouts by air, saving countless lives.
“We extend our heartfelt condolences to Dr Mickan’s family and all those whose lives he touched.”
In the 1960s, Dr Mickan and Dr Cooter made a landmark contribution to Australian medical history. Over several years, they investigated a mysterious illness that claimed the lives of 20 people, mostly healthy children and young adults, in Port Augusta, Port Pirie, and Kadina during summer months.
Working with city-based pathologists, they determined the cause to be a rare and deadly form of meningitis triggered by an amoeba entering the nasal passages through contaminated water.
Their diagnosis is believed to be one of the first clinical identifications of Amoebic Meningitis in Australia and possibly, the world.
Their discovery led to the introduction of water chlorination in South Australia’s Mid North towns, effectively eliminating the threat of infection.
Though many will remember Dr Mickan as a pioneering physician, his son, Phil, remembers him as someone, “who loved his mates and having fun”.
Phil said the family has been amazed by the outpouring of heartfelt messages in the wake of his dad’s passing.
“He was just a good bloke. Everybody loved him,” Phil said.
“He loved medicine and absolutely enjoyed helping people. Even off shift, he was always on duty."
“He was 50 years out of Port Augusta and there are all these people still up there saying, ‘He was my doctor — he delivered me and then he delivered my kids’. It’s an incredible history and we’re very proud of him.”
Phil Mickan
Born in the Yorke Peninsula town of South Kilkerran to German parents, Dr Mickan was one of five children.
After studying medicine in Adelaide, he returned to regional South Australia, dedicating 22 years to Port Augusta and surrounding communities before moving back to the city in 1975.
Even after retiring from general practice in his late sixties, Dr Mickan continued to work until the age of 80. He eventually settled in Ballina in 2016 and remained active well into his later years through fishing, gardening and playing golf until the age of 92.
Dr Mickan’s legacy of care and compassion lives on through the RFDS Port Augusta Base and the dozens of aircraft that continue to serve rural and remote communities in South Australia.
Learn more about the Flying Doctor.
