Meet our newest returning member, Bríd Phillips.

Bríd is an emergency nurse by background. Working in this dynamic environment, she first became interested in health professions education acting in various roles supporting nursing colleagues. During this time, she also became interested in the humanities and how this supports a holistic approach to care. Since completing her PhD in Shakespearean Studies and the History of Emotions, she has worked in a variety of academic roles including lecturing in health professions education, health humanities, and nursing. During this time she completed her Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Teaching.

Currently, she is a Senior Lecturer in Medical Education at The University of Western Australia where her main portfolio is evaluation. However, she also works and researches in health and medical humanities and simulation. She is currently studying for her Masters in Clinical Simulation at Monash University which is proving an exciting opportunity to strengthen her knowledge and she looks forward to translating this learning into practical outcomes for students.

"I rejoined ANZAHPE after a hiatus because the opportunities for networking, professional development, and collaboration are truly excellent. It will be a pleasure to connect with like-minded educators and researchers in a supportive and welcoming environment."

Meet one of our newest members, Professor Walter Eppich.

With clinical training in pediatrics and a PhD in Health Professions Education, Walter studies intersections between simulation and workplace learning. Using various qualitative approaches, Walter collaborates with clinicians, educators and psychologists to study team processes both in and outside healthcare.

His research seeks to delineate the contribution of workplace talk and team interactions to collaborative learning and team performance and the impacts on health delivery.

"I have joined ANZAHPE to contribute to an organisation dedicated to preparing health professionals for the complexities of team-based healthcare."

Meet one of our newest members, Dr Juan-Pablo (JP) Faundez-Astudillo

Juan-Pablo (JP) is an Audiologist from Chile, who possesses a broad background in Clinical Audiology, Speech-Language Pathology, Neurosciences, and Quantitative Research. He currently holds the position of Postdoctoral Research Fellow / Associate Lecturer in Audiology and Hearing Sciences at Macquarie University in Sydney. Simultaneously, he serves as a Sessional Academic for Speech Pathology at Victoria University in Melbourne and works as a Locum Audiologist in a private practice within the Sydney Metropolitan Area.

Initiating his career in Audiology in 2013 as a Diagnostic Audiologist in public hospitals in Santiago de Chile, Juan-Pablo subsequently assumed roles as a Clinical Educator and Lecturer for Audiology and Speech Pathology at Universidad de Chile. In 2018, he transitioned to Australia to pursue his PhD at Macquarie University. Over the past five years at Macquarie, he has undertaken responsibilities as a lecturer and clinical educator.

Juan-Pablo's interests include diversity and culture in healthcare, clinical simulation, curriculum design, accreditation, community-based education and practice, postgraduate training, and the expansion of primary care practice in Audiology.

“I joined ANZHPE to network with professionals from other areas of expertise and to increase my proficiency in the areas of health education I am interested in, and to be able to share my experience as a clinician and educator in culturally diverse settings”.  

Meet one of our newest members, Associate Professor Bhaumik Shah

Bhaumik is a medical oncologist with passion for clinical education. He teaches medical students professionalism and clinical skills (University of Melbourne). He also teaches oncology advance trainees. He is deeply involved in unique online course for all health professionals called Master of Cancer Sciences in University of Melbourne. He has finished Graduate Certificate in Clinical Education and continues Graduate Diploma on the way to a Masters.

" I have joined ANZAHPE to meet like minded educationalists, to find opportunities for expanding horizons in educational knowledge and also to find opportunities to work in educational roles."

Welcome to one of our newest members, Dr Rachael Austin.

Rachael Austin is a RN, RM, C&FHN, IBCLC, Childbirth Educator with a Master’s degree in Advanced Clinical Midwifery and Grad. Cert. in Health Professions Education. Rachael is currently the Head of Education and Specialist Leading Practitioner at Breastfeeding: The Thompson Method. She co-wrote the Breastfeeding Academy, based on the work of Dr. Robyn Thompson, which completely changed the way breastfeeding education has ever been taught and delivered worldwide.

Rachael lives in rural Central Queensland on a 3^rd generation family owned and managed cotton farm. Her other passion is rural maternity care.

Welcome to one of our newest members, Dr Kyle Eggleton!

Kyle Eggleton is Director of the Rural Health Unit and Associate Dean (Rural) in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland. He is also a rural general practitioner working part time in the Hokianga, a remote area in the Northland region of New Zealand. Kyle grew up in the Hokianga and trained as a GP there upon graduation from medical school. His PhD explored the concept of measuring quality of Māori health providers and used a methodology aligned to Kaupapa Māori. He focussed on critiquing non-Māori concepts that controlled Māori health providers. He has experience in community led research focussing on addressing health inequity and is particularly interested in inequity impacting rural populations. His University roles include leading the rural health interprofessional programme,  implementing a rural curriculum and rural immersion programme. His education interests include curriculum design, interprofessional education and arts based approaches.

“ANZAHPE is of interest to me because of the opportunities to connect with a diverse range of health education professionals across Australia and New Zealand. I am looking forward to seeing examples of modern health educational approaches and thinking of way of implementing these approaches into our programmes”

Welcome to one of our newest members, Jane Dow.

Jane has a clinical background as a physiotherapist over 13 years experience. Jane's health education journey began when supervising undergraduate physiotherapy students as a clinician working predominantly in neurology, then student coordinator, teaching and mentoring roles at Barwon Health for physiotherapy and junior medical interns. Electing to study units in evidenced based practice, quality improvement framework, design, and implementation as a part of the completion of a Graduate Certificate in Burns and Trauma Rehabilitation (University of Notre Dame, WA), complimented Jane's passion for education, by striving for the delivery of high value healthcare.

"Currently as the Clinical Director at Allied Therapy Services I bring my health education skills to support the Clinical Lead Team who support our therapists across Regional Victoria. Last year we developed our undergraduate student program and are excited to grow this in the future.

I have also worked in higher education over the past 5 years, as a regular sessional facilitator at Deakin University for their Collaborative Practice in Healthcare Unit and at the Australian Catholic University in various roles. I really get a kick out of being involved with undergraduate teaching, and passionate about setting up students for success as they transition from university to the healthcare workforce. I particularly enjoy facilitating interprofessional education and collaborative practice.

There are some wonderful ANZAHPE members I have met and up-skilling sessions I undertook last year. This year I decided to become a member to expand my networks, feed my passion for healthcare education and continue to learn from the great resources available."

Congratulations to Kate Pecar on her ANZAHPE Associate Fellowship!

Kate Pecar is currently in the final stages of her PhD at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, with a focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health education. In addition to being actively involved in both research and teaching in this field, she also plays a role in the clinical education of optometry students. 

"My decision to pursue a Fellowship with ANZAHPE stems from my commitment to give back to the community that warmly embraced me during the 2023 ANZAHPE conference."

Meet one of our 2024 Local Conference Champions, Dr Svetlana King.

"I entered the wonderful world of HPE in 2014, initially as a research centre manager in a professional role. Previously, I had worked in pre-service teacher education after completing a double degree (Bachelor of Education (Secondary)/Bachelor of Arts), and Honours and a PhD in education. A few years into working in HPE, my role was converted to an academic position which I have held since 2017.

Since that time, I’ve become increasingly intrigued by the depth and breadth of research and scholarly topics in HPE. ANZAHPE has fuelled this intrigue, facilitating opportunities to become more engaged with the community of health professions educators across Australia and New Zealand.

I became involved with ANZAHPE after attending my first conference in 2015 – in Adelaide. I feel as though I’ve come full circle, with the ANZAHPE conference being held in Adelaide in 2024 – this time, as part of the local committee! I’m really enjoying the opportunity to work alongside colleagues across the three South Australian universities and being able to make a small contribution to a community that made me feel so welcome all those years ago. I look forward to welcoming you all to our wonderful city!"

Congratulations to Dr Daniela Castro de Jong on her ANZAHPE Associate Fellowship!

Daniela is an occupational therapist from Chile, who came to Australia via Sweden where she completed her doctoral studies. Her areas of research interest include looking at the notion of culture in healthcare education and practices, interprofessional education, and health humanities. She recently started working at UNSW Sydney as the Nexus Fellow at the School of Health Sciences in the Faculty of Medicine & Health. Her current role is devoted to providing mentoring and support innovation within the school in terms of teaching, enhancing student experience, and educational research. In conjunction with the Nexus Fellows team (from the different schools and faculties) she is also involved in Faculty-based and University-wide projects supporting opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and enriched educational practices. She is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Canberra, where she previously taught in the undergraduate and postgraduate occupational therapy courses.

"I joined ANZAHPE as a newly arrived academic to Australia back in 2018. Since then, I have enjoyed being part of a generous community of colleagues who I can share my passion for innovation in healthcare education with. Last year I expanded my engagement as an ANZAHPE member, by joining the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion subcommittee, which allowed me to be part of a new and committed interdisciplinary working group. Becoming an Associate Fellow is an opportunity to share with others what I have learnt along the way from some inspiring and passionate educators. I hope that the new educators replicate the cycle with others in the future, because that is how we support a thriving academic community."