During the Otago Medical School’s 150th anniversary celebrations at King’s Birthday weekend we caught up with alumni Professor Jonathan Craig from Flinders University in Adelaide and Professor Katharine Wallis from the University of Queensland.
Jonathan holds the position of Vice President and Executive Dean of the College of Medicine & Public Health at Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia.
His research has made a significant contribution to the prevention, identification, management and treatment of chronic kidney disease, particularly in relation to children and in Indigenous communities.
Professor Jonathan Craig
He has led the formation of state, national and international networks to conduct high-quality, relevant trials in children and has been instrumental in the development and implementation of best-practice methods and guidelines relating to chronic kidney disease in Australia and globally.
Jonathan is also a past member of the WHO expert review panel for global strategy and plan of action on public health, innovation and intellectual property.
He hasn’t been back to Otago since he graduated, and says wandering around campus felt foreign but also filled with very fond memories, mostly of classmates but also some lecturers.
“My highlights here would have to be three things. One is it was about moving away from home, so that sense of independence, and being a member of a vibrant halls of residence which was fun.
“The second thing is my cohort, my colleagues. That’s lifelong friends and memories.
“And then some of the teachers, sadly I can’t recall them all with great clarity but a few unique characters I would say.”
He was enjoying catching up with colleagues both from his year and also those that he’s interacted with professionally over the years, as well as seeing how the Medical School as a whole has progressed.
“When I went through there was no recognition really of the critical role of Māori or Pasifika, there was no recognition of equity or disadvantage. It was very biomedical focused, so it’s really great to see the evolution and in fact the leadership of the medical programme in addressing community needs.”
Jonathan graduated MBChB in 1986 and PG Dip Child Health in 1989.
Katharine is Mayne Professor and Head, Mayne Academy of General Practice; and Head, General Practice Clinical Unit at the University of Queensland Medical School.
Professor Katharine Wallis
She is a clinically active general practitioner and Fellow of both the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine and the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners.
Her research centres around patient safety in primary care, in particular safer prescribing in general practice.
Katharine says she was loving the celebrations, and finding it “quite overwhelming seeing old patients, as I was a GP here for quite some time, along with old lecturers and former colleagues.”
She enjoyed the research displays on Friday, along with catching up with people and hearing what was happening at the University.
“There’s a real culture here where people value learning and education and I think that’s quite precious.”
As well as gaining her MBChB degree in 1990, Katharine graduated from Otago with a Postgraduate Diploma in Obstetrics in 1993, a Master of Bioethics and Health Law (distinction) in 2007, and Doctor of Philosophy in 2013.
“I loved doing the Master’s in Bioethics and Health Law and the PhD, that was a very exciting type of journey.”
-Kōrero by Margie Clark, Communications Adviser, Alumni
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