Dr. Diez Alvarez completed undergraduate and postgraduate training in South Africa in 2001 and then worked in private practice as a General Physician until 2008 when after a short stint in the UK in peri operative medicine he immigrated to Australia. Worked in Armidale Hospital as a General Physician and taught at the Rural School of Medicine at UNE as Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine. In 2010 he moved to Coffs Harbour where he worked in Stroke Medicine and as a general physician with a strong interest in chronic disease management and systems design in health care. In 2013 he took up the position of Director of Clinical Services for the Coffs Clinical Network while continuing teaching as a senior Lecturer at the UNSW and UoN.. In 2015 he moved to Newcastle and took up the position of Director of Medicine at The Maitland Hospital. Over the last few years has continued to develop his interest in clinical Leadership and Management. He has a specific interest in chronic conditions, and has extensive experience in the management of type 2 diabetes, COPD and hypertension.