Meet one of our newest members, Dr. Marianne Coleman

Marianne is an Orthoptist at the University of Melbourne (Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences) and Australian College of Optometry (National Vision Research Institute).

"I am from the UK and started providing clinical skills training to optometrists and orthoptists in 2011, about assessing the ability to use the eyes together as a pair (binocular vision). I completed a Postgraduate certificate in supporting student learning and student engagement in 2015. I love doing interdisciplinary research and here in Melbourne I have had the opportunity to collaborate with social work, audiology and speech pathology, physiotherapy and nursing in my work.

Melbourne School of Health Sciences has a strong focus on interprofessional education and our Director of Education Research is an Optometrist and fellow ANZAHPE member! Thank you, Kwang, for introducing me to ANZAHPE – I felt so warmly welcomed by everyone at the 50^th anniversary conference, joined AIPPEN, and had a lovely time presenting our collaborative IPE work with Hokkaido University’s Graduate School of Health Sciences."

Meet one of our newest members, Professor Heather Malcolm

Heather is a Sports Physiotherapist with over 30 years clinical experience, and is now the Course Coordinator of Physiotherapy at Charles Darwin University (CDU). Heather completed in 1985 a Bachelor of Applied Science (Physio) in SA and a Master of Sports Physio in Sydney in 2000. She moved to Darwin, NT in the early 1990’s where her experience included providing physiotherapy services to the locally based defence forces, owning a small private practice and being the Senior Sport Physiotherapist at a large Sports Medicine clinic. Her teaching experience includes some casual tutoring, teaching for SMA Level 1 and 2 sports trainer courses and in NTG Transition to Remote Practice training. As one of the Australian Physiotherapy Council’s longest-standing Accreditation Panel Assessors, Heather brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and a growth mindset as she makes her contribution to the Council’s work of accrediting university physiotherapy programs.

Physiotherapy at CDU is a new course so Heather is working on developing curriculum, engagement with clinical placement sites and looking at possibilities for use of simulation and interprofessional education in the Allied Health suite of courses at CDU. Heather spent 10 years working in the NT Health, initially in  clinical quality and patient safety before taking on the Chief Alllied Health Officer role for 4 years. As an advocate and clinical champion for telehealth, and with a growing interest in digital health transformation, Heather was the Program Sponsor for the NT Health Virtual Care Strategy between 2020 to 2022.

“I have joined ANZAHPE on the encouragement of a highly respected physiotherapy colleague who is a very experienced tertiary educator. I am looking forward to the development opportunities and support being as member provides. “

Meet one of our newest members, Dr Bao Nguyen.

Dr Bao Nguyen is an optometrist, lecturer and research fellow at The University of Melbourne. She holds a Bachelor of Optometry (2008), PhD (2014) and Graduate Certificate in Adolescent Health and Wellbeing (2021). Her research expertise is in the human eye and the brain, spanning healthy development and ageing, neurodegeneration and neurological disorders. Dr Nguyen is a passionate advocate for optometry education for entry-to-practice students and for continuing professional development, previously serving on the Education Committee and as an Education Consultant for Optometry Australia, the peak national professional organisation for optometrists in Australia. She has undertaken Interprofessional Education Facilitator Training for optometry educators through the Centre for Advancement of Interprofessional Education in the UK (2020).

Bao's work has advanced the scope of optometry by prompting rapid behaviour change (within 6 weeks of intervention) through educating optometrists regarding neurological screening in the primary eyecare setting (high Altmetrics attention score of 86th percentile compared to outputs of the same age). Other recent advances in education for eyecare professionals include a novel online feedback and evaluation program for improving interpersonal skills for optometry students, and an online "dementia-friendly eyecare" for optometrists. She is the first optometrist to be awarded the BioMedVic Early Career Clinician Researcher Award (2017) and contributes to the international scientific community by peer reviewing for  17 journals, including  FoHPE .

"I joined ANZAHPE after having FOMO seeing my colleagues in optometry at the ANZAHPE conference; it looks like such a friendly and inclusive community. As an ANZAHPE member, I want to contribute to health professional scholarship to ensure that diversity, inclusion, the "patient voice" and patient-centred care are at the heart of what we do. I have undertaken many volunteer community engagement activities especially to promote diversity and inclusion, including acting as a community spokesperson for Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia (PANDA), “ChatFest” facilitator for supporting English language skills in health science students, tutor for Vietnamese speaking children and adolescents at Western Region Outreach Service, consumer consultant for the Women’s Health Research, Translation and Impact Network and the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, consumer advisory group member for the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation, and community representative for people with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds."

Meet one of our newest members, Dr Patricia Taylor.

Patricia is a Lecturer at Deakin University and is Co-Course Director of the Bachelor of Public Health/Health Promotion. She has undergraduate qualifications in health promotion and postgraduate qualifications in public health and settings-based health promotion (PhD 2020). Patricia has been a researcher and teacher in the tertiary sector for 11 years. She leads the Australian Health Promoting University Network and is the Australian representative on the International Health Promoting Campuses Steering Committee.

Patricia chairs the undergraduate and postgraduate health practicums where students undertake a work integrated learning (WIL) placement in the health field. She also chaired for many years a first-year core health unit with over 2000 students annually and as part of this role managed large teaching teams (>20). She has a passion for health promotion education and providing settings where university communities can thrive.

Patricia was part of the leadership team that implemented the Victorian Smoke-Free University initiative that won the Victorian Health Promotion Award in 2014 as well as the Deakin University Vice-Chancellor Award in 2015.

Patricia was the Policy Leader for the Public Health Association of Australia (Victorian branch) for 2 years (2018-2019), has presented her research internationally and published in both the International and Australian Health Promotion Journal of Australia.

"I am excited to be part of the membership to build my network and collaborate with like-minded health promotion educators."

Congratulations to Jia Wang on receiving the 2023 ANZAHPE Clinical Education Award supported by Professor Richard Hays!

Jia Wang (Institute of Mental Health Singapore)

Project title: 'Perceptions of the newly recruited nurses working in a Singapore mental health hospital on the role of a Standardized Patient in a psychiatric emergency training programme: a qualitative approach'

"I am privileged to be awarded the prestigious ANZAHPE Award for Clinical Education, it is indeed an encouragement to my team and me who are firm believers of evidence-based practice and have been diligently conducting research over the years. This Award motivates my team to continue pursuing educational research in the clinical settings and ultimately improve clinical care to our patients.

The experience of attending my first ANZAHPE Conference in Gold Coast was indeed amazing and fruitful. I have met many friendly and outstanding like-minded educators at the Conference and have had a fascinating learning journey. Moreover, the engagement with Jo, Scott, Kendall, Jill and many other enthusiastic ANZAHPE members has made me feel welcomed and honoured." - Jia Wang

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."