Pictured from left at the Australian and New Zealand Association for Health Professional Educators (ANZAHPE) conference are Dr Philippa Friary (University of Auckland), and Otago staff Dr Laura Joyce, Professor Tim Wilkinson, Amber Philpott and Dr Tehmina Gladman.
A kete is not valued for its beauty alone. What matters is what it carries – and who it serves.
A woven kete provided a powerful metaphor for hundreds of health professional educators, challenging them to look beyond what education carries and ask who it ultimately serves.
It set the tone for four days of discussion about the future of health professional education, as about 700 educators, clinicians, academics and students gathered for the Australian and New Zealand Association for Health Professional Educators (ANZAHPE) conference, held in Christchurch Ōtautahi for the first time.
Hosted at the city’s Te Pae Convention Centre, with the University of Otago’s Faculty of Medicine - Christchurch Ōtautahi and the Division of Health Sciences as a Gold sponsor, the annual conference brought national and international speakers together to share research, challenge established thinking and explore new ways of educating the future health workforce.
Otago staff and students delivered an impressive number of abstracts and presentations across the programme, while several staff were involved in the conference’s organisation and delivery. The conference's local organising committee was co-led by Wellington-based Academic Lead and Education Adviser Dr Tehmina Gladman and Christchurch Māori Indigenous Health Innovation (MIHI) Teaching Fellow Amber Philpott.
Faculty of Medicine – Christchurch Ōtautahi Deputy Dean and emergency medicine specialist Dr Laura Joyce was joint MC for the conference (alongside former Otago medical student and paediatric registrar Dr Roshit Bothara).
She says the conference showcased an impressive array of Otago talent.
“Beyond leadership roles, our academic excellence was on full display. Staff contributed a phenomenal 38-plus abstracts and presentations, showcasing diverse insights and innovative research to the international health professional education community.
“The event proved to be an outstanding celebration of Otago's dedication to remaining deeply accountable to the communities we serve,” Laura says.
Pictured from left on stage at the ANZAHPE conference is Professor Suzanne Pitama alongside the Head of MIHI, Dr Maira Patu, and fellow presenters Dr Tracy Haitana, Dr Kelly Tikao and Dr Huhana Hickey.
Otago tauira also supported the conference and represented University research – putting into practice the concept of belonging in action: knowing you are part of something larger than yourself and being willing to speak for it.
That sense of shared purpose was central to the conference theme, Weaving Connection.
Inspired by the whakataukī “Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi” – with your food basket and my food basket, the people will thrive – the theme reflected the importance of collaboration and genuine connection in moving health professional education forward.
The theme came to life in the opening plenary, Kete & Kōrero: Weaving Connection in Community, chaired by Head of the Faculty of Medicine Professor Suzanne Pitama.
Four Māori health professional educators – MIHI's Dr Maira Patu, Dr Tracy Haitana and Dr Kelly Tikao, and Dr Huhana Hickey – used kete representing their own journeys to explore strengths-based practice, whānau voice, Indigenous knowledge and social accountability.
“The visible strands we've noticed today are see differently, teach differently, listen differently and act differently,” Suzanne explained to delegates.
“But as those strands crossed one another, something deeper emerged – identity, relationships, community voice, Indigenous knowledge, partnership, social accountability and hope.”
She stressed this approach reflects the wider contribution Hauora Māori can make to health professional education.
“Perhaps that is the gift Hauora Māori as a discipline offers health professional education. Not simply what to teach, but how to weave. Not simply how to educate individuals, but how to remain accountable to communities.”
She left attendees with a final challenge: “Perhaps the question isn't simply, ‘What knowledge will you take home from this conference?’ Perhaps the better question is, ‘What new strands will you choose to weave into your own kete?’” she said.
- Kōrero by Christchurch communications adviser Lorelei Mason
University of Otago, Christchurch
Research and study in Christchurch for a career in medicine and health science
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