Congratulations to our newest Associate Fellow, Anthea Cochrane!

Anthea is the Course Coordinator and Clinical Placements Coordinator for the Doctor of Optometry program at The University of Melbourne. In recent years she has taken up Faculty roles which include the Chair of the Faculty Student Placement Advisory Group and more recently as the Academic Director for the Melbourne Academy of Clinical Educators (see https://mdhs.unimelb.edu.au/ace). Anthea understands and works toward improving clinical placement experiences for students and training and professional development opportunities for supervisors in clinical environments.

I applied for Associate Fellowship with ANZAHPE because I highly value the role of and work done by ANZAHPE in health professional education. I have attended the ANZAHPE conference over the last 5 years and now promote it as a premier offering for Education focussed academics at The University of Melbourne in my Faculty. I love attending the ANZAHPE conference especially the interprofessional nature an inclusiveness.

My Educational Scholarship interests are in collaborative practice and improving clinical placements for students and educators. In addition, I teach professionalism and professional practice in the Doctor of Optometry program and I am working to create a framework for teaching professionalism for optometry student across Australia and New Zealand with my colleague Jane Duffy from Deakin University (thanks to a grant received from the Optometry Council of Australia and New Zealand).

I look forward to seeing everyone in Perth in July!