Meet one of our newest members, Dr Sharmila Ramessur Chandran.

Sharmila Ramessur is a renal physician in Melbourne. Since her trainee years, she has been involved in postgraduate medical education as well as the teaching of medical students and more recently has been involved in the creation of education courses such as the leadership course of RACP and the update course of ANZSN. She has also taken several advocacy roles within educational organisations, and is currently the president elect of RACP.

"I still really encourage ground teaching of medical students and physician trainees.  I teach medical students through University of Melbourne at Epworth Healthcare and I am a FRACP examiner. I am currently in the midst of a Masters in Clinical Education through the University of Melbourne, as I am keen to become involved in medical education research. I heard about ANZAHPE and I immediately joined as I am keen to play an active role in the association."

Congratulations to Kwang Cham on his ANZAHPE Associate Fellowship Revalidation.

Associate Professor Cham is an education-focused academic at the University of Melbourne. His scholarship interests include using digital technologies for feedback and assessment, inter-professional education, and inter-disciplinary object-based learning engaging with material culture. He is currently the Director of Education Research at The Melbourne School of Health Sciences and the Deputy Lead for Curriculum at the Faculty Collaborative Practice Center. He is also an Associate Editor of the FoHPE Journal.

 "Since being an ANZAHPE Associate Fellow in 2019, I have made lots of connections and some have led to successful collaborations. ANZAHPE has helped to foster a sense of belonging, and has created a community of practice that is supportive, nurturing and making everyone feel at home." 

Congratulations to Jacqueline North on her ANZAHPE Associate Fellowship.

Jacqueline North is a lecturer at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and a cardiorespiratory physiotherapist at Prince of Wales Hospital. Having been involved in the development of several physiotherapy programs in NSW, Jacque has extensive experience developing curriculum particularly in interprofessional education, work integrated learning and cardiorespiratory physiotherapy. Over the past decade she has taught both medical and physiotherapy students with a focus on an authentic learning approach to prepare them for success in the healthcare workforce. As a clinician for 17 years, Jacque has also provided support and training to many students and new graduates and has developed many educational resources. Additionally, she serves as a UNSW university-wide Community of Practice co-lead and Medical Education Group co-lead, contributing to the development and evaluation of teaching initiatives.

Jacque's scholarly interests lie within the areas of interprofessional practice, health professional new graduate support and teaching innovations including the development of virtual reality modules, podcasts, blended learning and simulation. She is currently leading and contributing to multiple research projects in these areas. She has presented at several educational conferences in 2024, including the ANZAHPE conference, and has secured multiple educational grants. In 2023, she completed a Graduate Certificate in Health Professions Education at Monash University.

"As a member of ANZAHPE, I have had the opportunity to network with a range of health professional educators across Australia and New Zealand and to keep up to date with relevant research and teaching initiatives. I have found ANZAHPE to be exceptionally welcoming and supportive. Having been involved in the ANZAHPE mentorship program, several ANZAHPE conferences and professional development sessions, I applied for Associate Fellowship as I am keen to support other health professional educators both at academic institutions and in clinical practice."

Meet one of our newest members, Steve Lacey.

Steve has been a clinical radiographer for over 20 years, with 15 years of experience in paediatrics. From 2009 until 2024, he was the Lead Clinical Educator in Medical imaging at The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) in Melbourne, including 2-years as the Allied Health Education Fellow with the RCH Education Hub. Steve is currently working part-time as the Allied Health Clinical Educator with the RCH Outreach Team and has recently taken on the role as Director of Education with the Australian Society of Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy (ASMIRT).

"I have a number of ANZAHPE member colleagues at RCH, who rave about the opportunities provided by ANZAHPE. I hope to be able to learn from ANZAHPE about innovative ways of delivering education to radiographers, radiation therapists and all health professionals."

Meet one of our newest members, Dr Stephen Muhi.

Dr Stephen Muhi (he/him) is a Consultant Infectious Diseases and General Medicine specialist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, PhD Candidate at the University of Melbourne, and medical educator at the University of Melbourne, where he holds an academic appointment as a medical education consultant. He is passionate about medical education, with a special interest in Infectious Diseases education for medical students, junior doctors and trainees. While completing his training as a medical specialist, he completed a Master of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in 2016 and a Master of Clinical Education in 2019. He has been involved in the implementation of Infectious Diseases educational programs at a local, national and international level, and has supervised numerous Masters students in Infectious Diseases-related research. Locally, he coordinates the Victorian Infectious Diseases Service junior doctor education program, and regionally, he was involved in establishing the Australasian Society of Infectious Diseases popular INtroductory TRainee Education Program in Infectious Diseases (INTREPID) program. He is also currently involved in training related to Antimicrobial Stewardship across Asia and the Western Pacific.

"I joined ANZAHPE to maximise my networking opportunities, and to introduce my lens of ID medical education to a wider audience."

Congratulations to Claudia Ng on her Associate Fellowship with ANZAHPE.

I am Claudia and I serendipitously fell into Health Professions Education in 2019 when I took on a role as a Group tutor for first year medical students in problem-based learning, communication and clinical skills and clinical debriefing tutorials. I now also work as the Medical Education Development Officer, particularly in curriculum development.

My scholarly interest is interprofessional education as well as in the development of a more inclusive and diverse health workforce. I decided to apply to be an Associate Fellow with ANZAHPE to contribute and learn from the vast experience that is in this community of practice and to be part of the growth of health profession education movement in Australia.

Congratulations to Mark Lavercombe on his Associate Fellowship with ANZAHPE.

Mark is a clinician-educator with extensive experience in all levels of medical training. He currently serves as the Deputy Director of Medical Student Education at Western Clinical School for the Melbourne Medical School, and is also an Educational Supervisor and Advanced Training Supervisor for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP). His clinical practice is in Respiratory & Sleep Disorders Medicine at Western Health in Melbourne’s western suburbs. Mark is also a member of the RACP Basic Physician Training site accreditation team and holds education leadership roles with CHEST and AMEE. Mark’s scholarly interests lie in clinician-educator roles and academic development, and he hopes to concentrate on faculty development – particularly for clinician-educators – in the future.

"I decided to apply for an Associate Fellowship of ANZAHPE due to the welcoming and positive nature of the organisation and the inclusivity of activities such as the ANZAHPE conference. It also provides recognition of my contributions in health professional education and is a marker of my intent to contribute further in the coming years."

Congratulations to Andy Wearn on his Fellowship with ANZAHPE.

Associate Professor Andy Wearn gained his MBChB from Birmingham (UK) in 1990 and his specialty training was in General Practice (GP). His academic career began whilst he was still a GP trainee, as a part-time Clinical Research Fellow at the Dept of General Practice at Birmingham University. His academic career condensed around education delivery, service and research.

"I was fortunate to be engaged in writing and reviewing from early in my career, supported by good mentors. We moved to NZ in 2001 where I set up the clinical skills centre (CSC) for the University of Auckland. I have held a number of leadership roles in the Faculty: Director CSC, Director of Assessment, Deputy and then Head of the Medical Programme (similar to Dean elsewhere). I maintain some clinical work in General Practice.

My educational interests are in clinical and communication skills, professionalism, assessment/selection, student wellbeing, curriculum, and educational theory. This is reflected in an eclectic mix of publications in health professional education and primary care. I review for a range of journals and was given a Choice Critics award by MedEd journal in 2015. I undertake some higher degree supervision.

I am an Executive Advisor to Focus on Health Professional Education (FoHPE), and was editor from 2015-2020. I was awarded the Butland and University aware for sustained excellence in teaching in 2016. As part of a team, received a national workplace safety award in 2022 for ‘HOTSPOTS’ (a system for reporting and acting upon bullying, discrimination and harassment). I became a Deputy Editor for Medical Education in 2024. I was made an Hon Fellow of ANZAHPE in 2024.

ANZAHPE has been an important part of my health professional education journey. The association has provided colleagues, collaborators and friends after moving to Aotearoa/NZ.

I believe in the mission of the Association and as such have held several association roles. I was on the committee when the fellowship scheme was proposed and fully support its purpose. For me, becoming a fellow aligns me with ANZAHPE and provides another opportunity for serve.

Fellowship is also a mark of standing in the health professional education community. Neither country has a scope of practice for education in medicine, so this is a valuable marker of peer-recognition."

Congratulations to Lorna Davin on her Fellowship with ANZAHPE.

Lorna is an experienced health professional educator, leader, academic, and qualitative researcher.

She has made a significant contribution to the health and education sectors for the last 30 years, with a specific interest in how we support the emotional aspects of learning and caring in theory, and through practice. She also has corporate, community, not-for-profit, and local government experience working in aged care, disability, and disability and sexuality.

She is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Medicine at the University of Notre Dame, Fremantle Western Australia. She has acted as the Domain Chair for Personal and Professional Development, in the School of Medicine. Lorna was the Program Coordinator for the National Health Professional Education suite of postgraduate studies for over 6 years.

Lorna completed her Ph.D. in medical education with the University of Queensland, School of Medicine. She is an international award winning, qualitative researcher who uses stories as the basis of her research. She is a regular presenter at state, national, and international fora, has a range of publications in peer-reviewed international journals, and mentors and supervises students and peers undertaking research and innovation in health professional education.

"I applied for Fellow to formally acknowledge my commitment to, and engagement with, ANZAHPE and to have my expertise in the field formally recognized by my peers.

And to be part of a community of practice of like-minded colleagues with shared interests and goals. And most important to me, to participate in a community that values and understands the enormous influence of health professional education on person-centred care and healthcare outcomes."

Meet our newest member, Associate Professor Melissa Petrakis

Melissa is Group Director of Social Work Innovation, Transformation and Collaboration in Health (SWITCH) Research Group and coordinates health and mental health units in the Department of Social Work, Monash University, Australia. She has worked in mental health for over 30 years, as a clinician, service manager, suicide-prevention national project lead, then practice-based researcher. She has authored over 100 publications and is sought after to mentor projects internationally. She has concurrently been a university educator of health professionals for over 20 years. In 2016 she was awarded The Tom Trauer Evaluation and Research Award, Australian and New Zealand TheMHS Awards, acknowledging excellence in her approach to research, championing co-design, co-production and co-authorship, with clinicians, people with lived experience of mental illness and families. During the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System she was Chair of the Board of Tandem, the state-wide peak body representing family carers in mental health.

“I have appreciated ANZAHPE to connect with education-engaged colleagues from diverse health professions and settings across Australia and New Zealand. It was great to hear from others working with participatory methods, to elevate lived and living experience input into classroom activities and curriculum design.”