Dean and Head of Campus
MA(Auck) PhD(Otago) PGDipEdPsych(Massey) MNZPsS
Email suzanne.pitama@otago.ac.nz
MIHI (Māori/Indigenous Health Institute)
School of Medicine and Health Sciences,
University of Otago, Christchurch.
PO Box 4345,
Christchurch
About Suzanne Pitama (Ngāti Kahungunu)
Suzanne is a registered educational psychologist. She has extensive experience in Māori health research and health education.
Suzanne is focussed on addressing Māori health inequities through medical education, health research (including mental health and heart health) and through membership on appropriate committees and boards (including the HRC Board and Australian Medical Council).
Suzanne's PhD focused on the design, implementation and impact of indigenous health curricula within medical schools. Suzanne is the Otago Medical School Hauora Māori faculty representative and is a member of the MBChB curriculum committee and Chairs the Hauora Māori sub-committee.
Suzanne also contributes to the MIHI post-graduate short courses that support the professional development of health professionals in the Hui Process and Meihana Model.
Teaching
Undergraduate medical curriculum
Postgraduate short courses
- MIHI RMO 301
- MIHI 501 Clin Psych
- MIHI 601 Clin Psych
- MIHI 501 RANZCOG
- MIHI 501 Health Professionals
Research interests
- Hauora Māori – Māori Health
- Effects of Adoption Practices on Mental Health
- Cardiovascular disease
- Severe Behaviour in childhood and adolescence
- MoDCONZ – Modelling disease and cancer outcomes in New Zealand
Professional activities
- Educational Psychologist
- Suzanne Pitama is the Haura Māori representative on the Faculty of Medicine Curriculum Committee
Publications
McLachlan, A., Pitama, S., & Adamson, S. J. (2023). Māori preferences and practices in systemic health and social service collaborative practice. AlterNative. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/11771801231193861
Journal - Research Article
Manuel, J., Pitama, S., Clark, M., Crowe, M., Crengle, S., Cunningham, R., Gibb, S., Petrović-van der Deen, F. S., Porter, R. J., & Lacey, C. (2023). Racism, early psychosis, and institutional contact: A qualitative study of Indigenous experiences. International Journal of Social Psychiatry. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/00207640231195297
Journal - Research Article
Landers, A., Pitama, S. G., Palmer, S. C., & Beckert, L. (2023). Stakeholders’ perspectives on the quality of end-of-life health care services for chronic obstructive airways disease: A focus group study. International Journal of Integrated Care, 23(3), 3. doi: 10.5334/ijic.7274
Journal - Research Article
Walker, S., Reid, P., Anderson, L., Bull, S., Jonas, M., Manning, J., … Pitama, S., Rennie, S., Snelling, J., Wilkinson, T., & Bagg, W. (2023). Informed consent for medical student involvement in patient care: An updated consensus statement. New Zealand Medical Journal/Te ara tika o te hauora hapori, 136(1579), 86-95. Retrieved from https://journal.nzma.org.nz/
Journal - Research Article
Xu, W., Haran, C., Dean, A. Y., Lim, E., Bernau, O., Mani, K., Khanafer, A., Pitama, S., & Khashram, M. (2023). Acute aortic syndrome: Nationwide study of epidemiology, management, and outcomes. British Journal of Surgery. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1093/bjs/znad162
Journal - Research Article
Pitama, S. (2021). Finding place within a space. In J. Ruru & L. W. Nikora (Eds.), Ngā Kete Matauranga: Māori scholars at the research interface. (pp. 207-213). Dunedin, New Zealand: Otago University Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Huria, T., Lacey, C., Melbourne-Wilcox, M., & Pitama, S. (2017). Keynote presentation: Externalising a complicated situation: Teaching racism in an indigenous curriculum: A case study. In O. Mazel & C. Ryan (Eds.), Leaders in Indigenous Medical Education LIME Good practice case studies (Vol. 4). (pp. 12-17). Melbourne, Australia: University of Melbourne.
Chapter in Book - Research
Sarich, K., & Pitama, S. (2017). The impacts of being a 'Roadshow facilitator' in Indigenous health tertiary students. In O. Mazel & C. Ryan (Eds.), Leaders in Indigenous Medical Education LIME Good practice case studies (Vol. 4). (pp. 12-17). Melbourne, Australia: University of Melbourne.
Chapter in Book - Research
Faatoese, A. F., Pitama, S. G., Wells, J. E., & Cameron, V. A. (2013). Understanding cardiovascular disparities between Māori and non-Māori in New Zealand: Is there a way to reduce these disparities? In O. T. Jackson & K. A. Evans (Eds.), Health disparities: Epidemiology, racial/ethnic and socioeconomic risk factors and strategies for elimination. (pp. 77-102). New Yourk, NY: Nova.
Chapter in Book - Research
Huria, T., Lacey, C., & Pitama, S. (2013). Friends with benefits: Should Indigenous medical educators involve the Indigenous community in Indigenous medical education? In C. Edmonds (Ed.), Leaders in Indigenous Medical Education LIME Good practice case studies (Vol. 2). (pp. 35-38). Melbourne, Australia: Onemda VicHealth Koori Health Unit, University of Melbourne.
Chapter in Book - Research
Pitama, S. (2012). Tū Kahika program. In C. Lochert (Ed.), Leaders in Indigenous Medical Education LIME Good practice case studies. (pp. 23-25). Melbourne, Australia: Onemda VicHealth Koori Health Unit, University of Melbourne.
Chapter in Book - Research
Crengle, S., Pink, R., & Pitama, S. (2007). Respiratory disease. In B. Robson & R. Harris (Eds.), Hauora: Māori standards of health IV: A study of the years 2000-2005. (pp. 169-179). Wellington, New Zealand: Te Rōpū Rangahau Hauora a Eru Pōmare, University of Otago.
Chapter in Book - Research
Cram, F., & Pitama, S. (1998). Ko toku whanau, ko toko mana. In V. Adair & R. Dixon (Eds.), The Family in Aotearoa New Zealand. (pp. 130-157). New Zealand: Longman.
Chapter in Book - Research
Pitama, S. (1997). The effects of traditional and non-traditional adoption practices on Maori mental health. In Adoption and Healing. Wellington: New Zealand Adoption Education and Healing Trust.
Chapter in Book - Research
Burnside, M., Haitana, T., Crocket, H., Lewis, D., Meier, R., Sanders, O., … Frewen, C., Jones, S., … Wheeler, B. J., Pitama, S., de Bock, M., & Lacey, C. (2023). Interviews with Indigenous Māori with type 1 diabetes using open-source automated insulin delivery in the CREATE randomised trial. Journal of Diabetes & Metabolic Disorders, 22, 861-871. doi: 10.1007/s40200-023-01215-3
Journal - Research Article
Carr, G., Cunningham, R., Petrović-van der Deen, F. S., Manuel, J., Gibb, S., Porter, R. J., Pitama, S., Crowe, M., Crengle, S., & Lacey, C. (2023). Evolution of first episode psychosis diagnoses and health service use among young Māori and non-Māori: A New Zealand national cohort study. Early Intervention in Psychiatry, 17(3), 290-298. doi: 10.1111/eip.13327
Journal - Research Article
Clark, M. T. R., Manuel, J., Lacey, C., Pitama, S., Cunningham, R., & Jordan, J. (2023). Reimagining eating disorder spaces: A qualitative study exploring Māori experiences of accessing treatment for eating disorders in Aotearoa New Zealand. Journal of Eating Disorders, 11, 22. doi: 10.1186/s40337-023-00748-5
Journal - Research Article
Haitana, T., Pitama, S., Cormack, D., Clark, M. T. R., & Lacey, C. (2023). ‘It absolutely needs to move out of that structure’: Māori with bipolar disorder identify structural barriers and propose solutions to reform the New Zealand mental health system. Ethnicity & Health, 28(2), 234-256. doi: 10.1080/13557858.2022.2027884
Journal - Research Article
Landers, A., Pitama, S. G., Palmer, S. C., & Beckert, L. (2023). Stakeholders’ perspectives on the quality of end-of-life health care services for chronic obstructive airways disease: A focus group study. International Journal of Integrated Care, 23(3), 3. doi: 10.5334/ijic.7274
Journal - Research Article
Manuel, J., Cunningham, R., Gibb, S., Petrović-van der Deen, F. S., Porter, R. J., Pitama, S., Crowe, M., Crengle, S., Carr, G., & Lacey, C. (2023). Non-Indigenous privilege in health, justice and social services preceding first episode psychosis: A population-based cohort study. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 57(6), 834-843. doi: 10.1177/00048674221119964
Journal - Research Article
Manuel, J., Pitama, S., Clark, M. T. R., Crowe, M., Crengle, S., Cunningham, R., Gibb, S., Petrović-van der Deen, F. S., Porter, R. J., & Lacey, C. (2023). Racism, early psychosis and institutional contact: A qualitative study of Indigenous experiences. International Review of Psychiatry, 35(3-4), 323-330. doi: 10.1080/09540261.2023.2188074
Journal - Research Article
Manuel, J., Pitama, S., Clark, M., Crowe, M., Crengle, S., Cunningham, R., Gibb, S., Petrović-van der Deen, F. S., Porter, R. J., & Lacey, C. (2023). Racism, early psychosis, and institutional contact: A qualitative study of Indigenous experiences. International Journal of Social Psychiatry. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/00207640231195297
Journal - Research Article
McLachlan, A., Pitama, S., & Adamson, S. J. (2023). Māori preferences and practices in systemic health and social service collaborative practice. AlterNative. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/11771801231193861
Journal - Research Article
Walker, S., Reid, P., Anderson, L., Bull, S., Jonas, M., Manning, J., … Pitama, S., Rennie, S., Snelling, J., Wilkinson, T., & Bagg, W. (2023). Informed consent for medical student involvement in patient care: An updated consensus statement. New Zealand Medical Journal/Te ara tika o te hauora hapori, 136(1579), 86-95. Retrieved from https://journal.nzma.org.nz/
Journal - Research Article
Xu, W., Haran, C., Dean, A. Y., Lim, E., Bernau, O., Mani, K., Khanafer, A., Pitama, S., & Khashram, M. (2023). Acute aortic syndrome: Nationwide study of epidemiology, management, and outcomes. British Journal of Surgery. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1093/bjs/znad162
Journal - Research Article
Burrowes, K. S., Fuge, C., Murray, T., Amos, J., Pitama, S., & Beckert, L. (2022). An evaluation of a New Zealand "vape to quit smoking" programme. New Zealand Medical Journal, 135(1561), 45-55. Retrieved from https://journal.nzma.org.nz
Journal - Research Article
Haitana, T., Pitama, S., Cormack, D., Clark, M. T. R., & Lacey, C. (2022). "If we can just dream…": Māori talk about healthcare for bipolar disorder in New Zealand: A qualitative study privileging Indigenous voices on organisational transformation for health equity. International Journal of Health Planning & Management, 37(5), 2613-2634. doi: 10.1002/hpm.3486
Journal - Research Article
Haitana, T., Pitama, S., Cormack, D., Clark, M. T. R., & Lacey, C. (2022). Culturally competent, safe and equitable clinical care for Māori with bipolar disorder in New Zealand: The expert critique of Māori patients and Whānau. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 56(6), 648-656. doi: 10.1177/00048674211031490
Journal - Research Article