Our Clinical Educators

Clinical Educators play a vital part in physiotherapy education in New Zealand.

Each year our School of Physiotherapy team takes care of around one hundred and thirty aspiring physios who tackle four clinical papers and one research paper while working at a clinic or DHB somewhere in New Zealand.

Lena Bekhuis

Lena lives and works in Invercargill - Waihōpai, New Zealand's southernmost city.

Before moving further south, Lena Bekhuis worked as a physiotherapist in Dunedin and a demonstrator in Anatomy at the University of Otago.

When her husband accepted a new job in Invercargill, a member of academic staff at the School mentioned that the Clinical Educator role in Invercargill may be available.

Now Lena takes care of fourth-year students from the School of Physiotherapy who are on placement in DHBs and private practices in her region.

Students spend six weeks on placement, and Lena sees that they cover all requirements for assessment while keeping themselves healthy and well. She also has a liaison role between supervising clinicians and students.

The patient's welfare and interests are at the heart of the entire assessment process.

As the nature of healthcare provision is the South shifts towards the use of more integrated cross-disciplinary models, Lena is excited to have opportunities to play an increasingly active part in fostering links between various complementary health professionals. Inter-Professional Education (or IPE) focuses on health professionals learning with, from and about each other. This includes better understandings of the nature of each healthcare speciality and how enhanced connections can improve patient-centred care.

There is growing recognition that active collaboration between physiotherapists, educators and other healthcare professionals under an IPE framework results in better levels of care for patients, and a more seamless environment for all those involved.

Lena tells us that patients are empowered to play a more active part in their own physiotherapy care and rehabilitation and that students observing such initiatives gain much from the experience.

While the distances involved in her work throughout Southland and Central Otago can be daunting at times, Lena finds her home district's family-friendly character and outstanding natural beauty to be enough compensation.

Liz Kemp

Liz Kemp graduated from Otago in 1996 and is now our Northern Centre co-ordinator and educator.

After a stint as a clinical supervisor at the University of Otago's Wellington Clinic, Liz moved into Clinical Education.

She is now responsible for all fourth-year student placements in the Northern Centre. From her base in the Hutt Valley Liz also looks after Physiotherapy HUBS in the Hawkes Bay, Palmerston North, Hutt Valley, Wanganui and Wellington.

While at first she found student learning and teaching a formidable challenge, the new career direction soon prompted Liz to revisit and build skills in areas such as Acute Stroke Rehabilitation.

Liz is proactive in helping students build a healthy work-life balance. The placement experience can be hard for students who may find themselves in daunting new environments. Pastoral care is a growing part of Liz's work and she encourages and fosters connections between students and their support networks.

Students on placement must show competence in a variety of clinical settings. They need a good understanding of patient rights and consent and must be able to apply ethical, legal and sensitive practice.

Liz stresses that these criteria are at the heart of all good clinical work. She sees the interaction between herself and each student as part of an ongoing and positive feedback loop where students thrive by learning to build on their strengths and by giving attention to areas needing extra effort.

Outside of work time, she enjoys family life, with a husband and three children all engaged in competitive sports.

Read more about the role of physiotherapy HUBS in education here