Members of the MIHI team (from left) Suzanne Pitama, Tania Huria, Maia Melbourne-Wilcox, Maira Patu and Cameron Lacey.
Christchurch's Māori/Indigenous Health Institute (MIHI) has won a prestigious international teaching award for the third time in a row.
The MIHI team were recently awarded the 2017 'Innovation in Indigenous Health Curriculum' award at the bi-annual Leaders in Indigenous Medical Education (LIME) awards.
The LIME awards recognise excellence from the more than 20 medical schools in Australasia, with entries this year also coming from American and Canadian Universities.
MIHI director Associate Professor Suzanne Pitama says the award recognises the Christchurch campus' commitment to providing adequate timetabling and resourcing to ensure a comprehensive indigenous health curriculum. It also celebrates a number of teaching innovations that are unique to the University of Otago including student-led clinics in a Kura Kaupapa Māori and simulated patient sessions focussed on Hauora Māori and Clinical Skill competencies.
The MIHI teaching team acknowledges the support of its Hauora Māori teaching team colleagues in Wellington and Dunedin, as through the three campuses teaching resources have been developed and shared. This includes the Aki Hauora App (Māori language teaching tool for those working in health) launched in February.
LIME award nominees are judged on how well their teaching programmes demonstrate their commitment and experience to understanding and furthering the health of Māori and Indigenous peoples.