Congratulations to Abigail Lewis on her Associate Fellowship with ANZAHPE!

I am a senior lecturer in the University Department of Rural Health South West, Edith Cowan University, supporting students across disciplines on rural placements and enhancing the skills of their supervisors. Prior to this I was the placement coordinator in the Bachelor of Speech Pathology for fourteen years. Now based in Bunbury, Noongar country, my teaching and research are focused on increasing the confidence and competence of students completing placements. I am particularly interested in professional identity formation, recently completing my doctorate in this topic. My specific focus in health professional education is student and new graduate motivation and confidence (professional identity formation, rural/place identity, interprofessional collaborative practice, and wellbeing on placements) and quality rural placements (skilled supervision, service-learning placements). I’m particularly interested in transformative learning and self-determination theory and I use qualitative and mixed methods in my research.

Having completed my PhD at the end of 2025, I signed up for ANZAHPE’s mentoring program to work out the next steps in my research journey. This mentoring has been very helpful, helping me streamline my focus, the number of projects I’m involved in and also encouraged me to apply for the Associate Fellowship. I have long been a member of ANZAHPE and really enjoy all the webinars and attending the conferences. Becoming an Associate Fellow is the next step on my journey in health professional education.