Who We Are
STI Doctor is an Australian telehealth service focused on one thing: sexual health. We help people get tested, treated and back to normal without a waiting room, an awkward front desk or a gap fee for eligible Medicare card holders.
Every consultation is with an AHPRA-registered Australian doctor, by phone or video, 7 days a week from 9am to 7pm (Sydney time). If you need tests, your doctor sends an electronic pathology request you can take to any collection centre. If you need treatment and it's safe to prescribe remotely, you'll get an eScript sent to your phone. If something can't be managed online, we tell you so and arrange the right in-person care.
STI Doctor is operated by Pharmacy Family Doctors Pty Ltd (ABN 33 654 860 652), based in North Sydney, and serves patients Australia-wide, including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and regional and rural areas in between.
ABOUT US
Our Doctors
Dr Vafa Derakshan
MBBS, FRACGP, B Optom (Hons) · AHPRA Reg. MED0001663310
Dr Vafa Derakshan is a Sydney-based general practitioner and Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (FRACGP). He studied at the University of Notre Dame Australia in Sydney, completing a Bachelor of Optometry with Honours before his Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), and gained his RACGP Fellowship in Sydney.
His clinical interests include sexual health, preventive health and mental health. He has completed further study through the University of Queensland, including a Professional Certificate in Skin Cancer Medicine and the Australasian Preliminary Course in Nutritional and Environmental Medicine.
Dr Derakshan oversees the clinical content on this website. Our service pages and health articles are written or medically reviewed by him and checked against current Australian guidelines.
Qualifications: MBBS; Bachelor of Optometry (Hons) – University of Notre Dame Australia, Sydney
Fellowship: FRACGP – Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
AHPRA registration: Medical Practitioner, MED0001663310
Additional training: Professional Certificate in Skin Cancer Medicine (University of Queensland); Australasian Preliminary Course in Nutritional and Environmental Medicine
Clinical interests: Sexual health, preventive health, mental health
Verify Dr Derakshan's registration on the AHPRA Register (search MED0001663310).
Clinical Review Team
Ms Milreet Mann
BN, MN, MNP · Nurse Practitioner · AHPRA Reg. NMW0001775109
Milreet is a nurse practitioner who completed a Bachelor of Nursing, a Master of Nursing and a Master of Nurse Practitioner at the University of Sydney. Her clinical background is in acute care, including managing complex and chronic health conditions. She is part of our clinical review team and checks our health content alongside Dr Derakshan.
Verify Ms Mann's registration on the AHPRA Register (search NMW0001775109).
How We Keep Online Care Safe
- Real doctors, real consultations. Every prescription and pathology request follows a live phone or video consultation with an AHPRA-registered doctor. We don't prescribe from a questionnaire alone.
- Australian guidelines. Our testing and treatment decisions follow the ASHM Australian STI Management Guidelines for use in primary care and RACGP standards for telehealth and general practice.
- Knowing our limits. Some conditions need an examination, an injection or specialist care, for example most gonorrhoea and syphilis treatment. When that's the case, we refer you to a GP, public sexual health clinic or hospital and explain why.
- Follow-up that happens. We notify you when results arrive and book a follow-up consult to explain them. Where guidelines recommend a re-test, we'll remind you.
- Partner notification support. If you test positive, we help you let partners know, including anonymously through Let Them Know.
- Public health reporting. Some infections (such as chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and HIV) are notifiable by law. Reports go confidentially to your state or territory health department for disease tracking. They are not shared with your employer, insurer or family.
Your privacy
Your health information is handled under the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles. Consultations run on secure platforms, and we don't share your information with anyone, including your regular GP, without your consent, except where the law requires it. Some pathology labs upload results to My Health Record; you can ask the lab not to. Read our full Privacy Policy.
How we create our health content
Our health information is written for Australians, by Australian doctors. Each service page and article:
- is written or medically reviewed by Dr Vafa Derakshan (MBBS, FRACGP, AHPRA MED0001663310), with support from our clinical review team;
- is based on Australian sources: the ASHM STI Management Guidelines, Healthdirect, state health departments and Kirby Institute surveillance data;
- shows the reviewer and the date it was last reviewed; and
- is re-checked at least every 12 months, or sooner if guidelines change.
When not to use telehealth
If you have severe pain, a high fever, heavy bleeding, or feel very unwell, call 000 or go to your nearest emergency department. If you think you've been exposed to HIV in the last 72 hours, don't wait for a routine appointment: book an urgent PEP consult or go to an emergency department or sexual health clinic now.
Part of the Pharmacy Family Doctors network
STI Doctor is part of Pharmacy Family Doctors Pty Ltd. Our sister service, Teldoc, provides general telehealth consultations, from everyday illnesses and mental health support to prescriptions and ongoing care, so you can get the right help whether it's sexual health or something else.
Pharmacy Family Doctors Pty Ltd t/a STI Doctor · ABN 33 654 860 652
Shop G7b, 122 Arthur St, North Sydney NSW 2060
Phone: (02) 9059 8295 · Open Monday to Sunday, 9am to 7pm (Sydney time)