Brad McKay is an Australian doctor, science communicator and author. He is best known for his television series ''

Embarrassing Bodies Down Under ''Embarrassing Bodies'' (formerly ''Embarrassing Illnesses'') is a British BAFTA Award-winning medical reality television programme broadcast by Channel 4 and made by Maverick Television since 2007. In 2011, an hour-long live show was introduc ...

'', which was broadcast in 2013. He is also a regular guest on numerous Australian television and radio programs including '' Today''. He is a practicing GP in the inner Sydney suburb of Darlinghurst.

Early life and education

McKay was born and grew up in

Lower Hutt Lower Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. It is New Zealand's sixth most p ...

, New Zealand.Hutt doctor joins reality TV show - ''Stuff.co.nz'' - published 27 May 2013
/ref> He moved to Australia as a teen, and studied at

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

Career

After graduating from university, McKay began work at a clinic in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. He has worked with remote

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

communities in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. In 2014 he began working at East Sydney Doctors in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. McKay's first television role was as a commentator on '' The Project''. He then started making regular appearances on '' Today'' and '' Today Extra''. In 2013, he hosted ''

'' on Lifestyle You, a factual television program that explores embarrassing medical issues. The series was an Australian version of the UK show, Embarrassing Bodies. The show was also hosted by

Christian Jessen Christian Spencer Jessen (born 4 March 1977) is a British celebrity doctor, television personality, and writer. He is best known for appearing in the Channel 4 programmes ''Embarrassing Bodies'' (2007–2015) and '' Supersize vs Superskinny'' (2 ...

who hosts the UK version of the program, Ginni Mansberg, and Sam Hay. In 2015 the show was broadcast on the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

. In 2015, McKay started regular radio segments on '' ABC Radio Sydney'', ''

ABC Radio Hobart ABC Radio Hobart (call sign: 7ZR) is the ABC Local Radio station for Hobart, Tasmania, owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. History Officially opened on 22 June 1938, plans surrounding the initial broadcast of 7ZR were forced to be ...

'', '' Nightlife'',

2UE 2UE is an all-music radio station in Sydney owned by Nine Entertainment Co and run under a lease agreement by Ace Radio. It currently broadcasts from its studios in Pyrmont, New South Wales. History 1920s 2EU Electrical Utilities applied to the ...

, and '' 3AW Melbourne''. In 2016, McKay began writing regularly for ''

News.com.au news.com.au is an Australian website owned by News Corp Australia. It had 9.6 million unique readers in April 2019 and covers national and international news, lifestyle, travel, entertainment, technology, finance, and sport. Staff The organiza ...

''. His articles have also been published by the

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

. In addition to his regular commitments, Dr Brad has appeared as health expert on many Australian radio and television programmes including '' Studio 10'', ''

Nine News ''Nine News'' (stylised ''9News'') is the national news service of the Nine Network in Australia. Its flagship program is the hour-long 6:00 pm state bulletin, produced by Nine's owned-and-operated stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, ...

'',

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

, '' Sky News Australia'', ''

10 News First ''10 News First'' is an Australian television newscast, produced by Network 10. The network's ninety-minute long news program airs at 5pm each evening covering local, national and world news, including sport and weather. Weekend editions are p ...

,'' and ''

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

.''

Personal life

McKay was a doctor in

, before moving to

in 2014. Growing up in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, McKay was raised by religious parents who taught to never question a doctor's opinion and frequently used prayer when dealing with medical issues. He is openly gay and lives with his partner in Sydney. He is an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

and humanist. He has spoken in the past about the fact that he grew up in a very religious household. McKay is a committee member of the Australian Skeptics and has said he is committed to keeping evidence based science in medicine. He caused a minor controversy in his home country of New Zealand when he publicly denounced former

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

Sonny Bill Williams Sonny Bill Williams (born 3 August 1985) is a New Zealand heavyweight boxer, and a former professional rugby league and rugby union player and as of recently is working for Stan Sports. He is only the List of dual-code rugby internationals#New ...

for his use of

hijama Cupping therapy is a form of alternative medicine in which a local suction is created on the skin with the application of heated cups. Its practice mainly occurs in Asia but also in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. Cupping has ...

cupping.Football player tweets photo of his blood-sucking cup therapy - ''Mashable'' - published 26 November 2015
/ref>

Books

* An article written in ''Skeptical Inquirer,'' Susan Gerbic reviews McKay's book ''Fake Medicine: Exposing the Wellness Crazes, Cons and Quacks Costing Us Our Health.'' During his teenage years, McKay had a medical condition which hurt his backside, causing him to go to the doctor, then a physiotherapist and an osteopath. Then McKay's parents decided to invoke the help of God when surgery time came. After this, we follow McKay through many doctors trying to diagnose a medical mystery which is revealed in the end. Throughout the book, McKay discusses the phenomenon of Dr. Google, which he says has positives and negatives with patients trying to diagnose themselves, and a variety of alternative treatments including vitamins, cupping therapy, and naturopathy. McKay uses real-life experiences adding a touch of personal history to lead readers along the diagnoses ending with the problems science communicators face with such as media pushing a false balance.

References

External links

Dr Brad McKay , Official Website , Australian TV Doctor

Dr Brad McKay biography

Meet the Embarrassing Bodies Doctors - ''Lifestyle You''
* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:McKay, Brad 1985 births Living people People educated at Brighton Grammar School Australian television presenters Australian general practitioners Science communicators Australian sceptics Australian atheists Australian people of New Zealand descent