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."