Congratulations to William MacAskill on receiving the 2023 ANZAHPE Early Career Award sponsored by AMH!

Dr William MacAskill (Griffith University and Rural Medical Education Australia)

Project title:  'Creative reflective learning approaches and medical students’ personal growth, interpersonal relationships, and sense of belonging: A systematic review and qualitative synthesis'

"This year I received the ANZAHPE Early Career Award for my work in using creative reflective learning approaches in medical education (w.macaskill@ruralmeded.org.au if you're interested!). I could not have achieved this outcome without the hard work and support of my co-authors Dr Weng Joe Chua, Thedini Pinidiyapathirage, and Dr Hannah Woodall, and the support of my colleagues at Rural Medical Education Australia.

As a newcomer to the field I felt that applying for this award could give me an opportunity to showcase my work to a broad variety of health professional educators and extend the impact of my research. Receiving the award was a genuine surprise and a great honour. It provided a wonderful opportunity to showcase my work and to develop new relationships with others health professional educators. The ANZAHPE staff and membership were very supportive and genuinely interested in not just my own work, but all the fantastic research on display at the ANZAHPE Conference. The entire experience was more collegial, supportive, and fun than I could have imagined. The platform provided a great opportunity to share my research and after my presentation I had many conversations with interested people – giving me hope that my research may positively impact education practice.

If you get the opportunity to apply for an ANZAHPE award you should definitely go for it. Health students and professional educators should definitely attend the conferences too! They are a fantastic opportunity to network, learn, and stay up to date with evidence based practice."

- Dr William MacAskill: Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Rural Medical Education Australia; Lecturer, Griffith University

Congratulations to Sobia Zafar on winning the 2023 Flinders University - ANZAHPE award!

"Accepting the prestigious 2023 award by the Flinders University – ANZAHPE for Excellence in Health Professional Education is an honour and a privilege.

I was awarded for my digital dentistry work, a new pedagogical paradigm offering multiple advantages over conventional dental teaching methods. I have utilised various innovative technology-enhanced learning (TEL) tools in my teaching to leverage contemporary teaching and learning research and integrating them into the dental curriculum. My innovative educational methods are introduced as serious games providing an interactive, immersive, entertaining, and motivational approach to learning. My approach offers rich learning experiences by allowing students to have a safe and authentic learning environment to master their clinical skills. Furthermore, I critically evaluated the outcomes of my TEL tools to employ evidence-based and research-informed content in dental education.

I am a clinician (specialist paediatric dentist), academic (senior lecturer and the Discipline Lead in Paediatric Dentistry) and researcher at school of dentistry, The University of Queensland. Dentistry is generally a male dominant profession. There are 13 dental specialities in Australia, however, on an estimate, 71% of dental specialists are male.  I am the first female dental academic to win this award. I believe such awards help in recognise emerging educators in healthcare, which is critical to workforce development. Achieving this award for me is indicative of the possibilities for women in dentistry for their potential success. This award has given me the platform to showcase my work, hear about other interesting research projects, and provide me with networking and collaborating opportunities with like-minded health educators from across Australia and New Zealand."

Meet one of our newest members, William 'CJ' Carlson-Jones.

William 'CJ' Carlson-Jones is an Oral Health Therapist currently working as a Lecturer in the Discipline of Oral Health with the University of Sydney. Completing his Bachelor of Oral Health, Graduate Certificate in Oral Health Science, and Master of Business Administration CJ has also commenced further studies undertaking a Graduate Certificate in Educational Studies (Higher Education) at the University of Sydney and a Doctor of Philosophy with the University of Queensland. His research will focus primarily on the impact of the transitional workforce from dental therapist to oral health therapist might have upon consumers, public dental services, tertiary institutions, and regional areas. 

CJ is the Vice President for the Australian Dental & Oral Health Therapists’ Association (ADOHTA) and is also a founding representative on the Colgate Advocates for Oral Health: Editorial Community. Prior to his current role at the University of Sydney, CJ has provided clinical supervision and education to undergraduate and postgraduate students at the University of Adelaide.

"I was encouraged to join ANZAHPE to connect with the large network of health professional educators across Australia and New Zealand, and for the opportunity to build my skills as an early career academic."

Meet one of our newest members, Associate Professor Kirsty Freeman.

Kirsty Freeman is the Academic Coordinator of the Rural Clinical School of Western Australia penultimate year program.  A Fellow of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare, she is a recognised world leader in the application of simulation in health professions’ education, with 20 years’ experience in healthcare education, assessment and research. Kirsty has worked across a variety of healthcare disciplines including medicine, nursing, allied health and paramedicine, and has extensive experience in providing simulation-based experiences to undergraduate healthcare students, through to experienced healthcare providers. Born and raised in rural regions of Western Australia, she is passionate about growing the healthcare workforce in rural and remote environments to ensure healthcare access for those communities.  She has delivered presentations, workshops and been invited to speak at national and international conferences. A qualitative researcher, Kirsty is currently completing a PhD exploring impostor phenomenon in healthcare simulation educators, and is co-investigator on research exploring in impact of emotions on learner’s engagement with feedback.

"It was a fellow educator who introduced me to the benefits of being part of the ANZAHPE community.   Being a member has not only given me access to a variety of relevant resources, it has also provided the opportunity to connect with health professions educators working in different contexts, which broadens my knowledge and skills."

Meet one of our newest members, Anita Dunn.

As a registered nurse (RN), nurse educator, and a PhD candidate with a focus on the impact of masters-qualified RNs in healthcare settings, Anita is deeply committed to advancing the nursing profession and nurturing the next wave of nursing professionals. However, Anita is most proudest of being a mother of three.

"My professional journey has been guided by a desire to connect with colleagues who share my passion for healthcare education. This led me to ANZAHPE, an introduction I owe to a valued colleague who highlighted the wealth of opportunities provided by the association.

ANZAHPE offers an unparalleled platform for networking, professional development, and research grants. This unique blend of resources resonated with my professional pursuits and personal aspirations, making it a natural decision to become a part of this remarkable organisation.

I am thrilled to be part of the ANZAHPE community. I look forward to contributing to ANZAHPE's mission, engaging with my fellow members, and continuing to champion the vital role of health professional education in our ever-evolving healthcare landscape."

Lyn is a registered nurse and a midwife by background and works at the University of South Australia. Lyn has been working in academia; research and teaching over the last 2 decades. In her current role at Uni SA Lyn is a Program Coordinator for the Bachelor of Nursing.

Lyn completed her PhD in 2017 at Flinders University which explored interprofessional education and collaborative practice in rural settings in South Australia.

Current interests include the provision of supportive learning environments for undergraduate students, and simulation debriefing. As a person who remains passionate about interprofessional education and collaborative practice, I remain active through being a member of AIPPEN and Interprofessional.Global.

"I was previously a member of ANZAHPE (quite some time ago!) and have re-joined to reap the benefits of being part of a community of practice and connecting with like-minded people. Attending and presenting at ANZAHPE conferences was very helpful in the development phase of my PhD.

Being a part of the ANZAPHE community is a great way to meet and learn from other health professionals."

Congratulations to Dr Cate Scarff on her ANZAHPE Associate Fellowship

Catherine (Cate) Scarff is an academic in the Department of Medical Education, University of Melbourne.  She coordinates a subject in the MD, called Discovery, which provides students the opportunity to study an area of interest outside of the core content of the course.  She attained Fellowship of the Australasian College of Dermatologists in 2006, and commenced further study in medical education to support her supervision of trainees in the College.  She completed her PhD on the topic of failure to fail in 2020.  This work focused on how and why reluctance to deliver negative assessment messages manifests in one medical specialty training area in Australia.

Her scholarly interests include a range of topics.  In addition to failure to fail, she is interested in professionalism and flexibility in medical education and in particular, how flexible learning options might support and increase diversity in the medical student population.  Clinically, she is interested in melanoma and sun protection and is undertaking studies in these areas currently.

"I decided to apply for the Associate Fellowship program as a way of demonstrating commitment to both the fields of health professional education and scholarship and to support those at all levels on their education journey."

Meet one of our newest members, James Bonnamy.

James is a clinical nurse specialist, educator and researcher based in Melbourne, Australia. He currently works as a Research Fellow at Monash University in the School of Nursing and Midwifery. He is also a Teaching Associate in the Department of Paramedicine.

James is an experienced educator with particular interest in co-designing teaching and learning activities with consumers and community, particularly in clinical learning environments. His research, teaching and clinical practice transcend health profession disciplines including nursing, midwifery, paramedicine and allied health.

It was through living the experience of cancer care and survivorship that James became passionate about ensuring the consumer and community voice is at the forefront of health professions education so that care can be truly person-centred.

"Being a member of ANZAHPE means that I have the opportunity to learn from other experienced health professions educators as well as contribute to health professions education scholarship. I first heard about ANZAHPE when a colleague recommended attending one of their conferences. This conference led to further career opportunities and new professional relationships."

Congratulations to Dr David Lim on his ANZAHPE Fellowship.

David is the current program conveyer (Director of Academic Program) for postgraduate public health and health science (aged care and health service management, occupational health, digital health) degrees at Western Sydney University. He will be shortly joining the University Technology of Sydney Centre for Improving Palliative, Aged and Chronic Care through Clinical Research and Translation in July 2023 as an Associate Professor in Implementation Science.

"I have specifically sought to seek fellowship with ANZAPHE for endorsement of my scholarly and scholarship of practice in health professional education because of the alignment of the ANZAPHE Gold Coast Declaration (2014) stance on university health professional education with my personal commitment and underlying theme of my scholarship in transformative change and social justice. As someone who is Culturally and Linguistically Diverse, self-identified as gay and has caregiving responsibility, I have a keen interest in equity and inclusion. Further to my ANZAPHE fellowship, I plan to use this opportunity to increase ANZAPHE’s visibility to non-traditional health professionals and contribute to ANZAPHE Diversity, Equity and Inclusion sub-committee."

Meet FoHPE's newest Associate Editor, Dr Kwang Cham.

Kwang is a teaching-focused academic within the Melbourne School of Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne. As the School Director of Education Research, Kwang's role is to support teaching-focused academics in research and the scholarship of teaching and learning. Trained as an optometrist, Kwang delivers substantial coordination and teaching duties across all 4 years of the Doctor of Optometry Program within the Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences.

"The ANZAHPE conference was where it all began in 2013. I was inspired by the people that presented and influenced by others that I interacted with. It was always a welcoming atmosphere and I felt that I have found my tribe! Through the support and mentoring at ANZAHPE over the last few years, I have transformed into a health profession educator (though the imposter syndrome still kicks in at times). I have been a member of ANZAHPE since 2019 and became an Associate Fellow that same year.

This year, I am humbled and grateful to be given the opportunity to serve as an Associate Editor in FoHPE, a journal that aligns with my vision. I am glad to support the ecosystem that I thrive in, and looking at the people that I am surrounded with, it is going to be an exciting chapter of my life!"