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Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
40 years of service enough for sergeant
From "good old-fashioned dust-ups" to prosecuting criminals in court, retiring sergeant Chris George has done it all. Sgt George, Dunedin born and bred, retired yesterday after 40 years of service. "It's time to go, [I'm] getting too old," he said. He began his career in Invercargill, working for seven years as a uniformed officer before transferring to Dunedin in the early 1990s to become a detective. While completing his detective training he also earned a law degree from the University of Otago and became a prosecuting officer at the Dunedin District Court. He said the biggest changes he had seen in the police during his time as an officer were that no-one smoked any more, there was a lot less alcohol consumed and there were a lot more women in the force — which was a good thing. When he was a young officer in the 1980s, Sgt George was told to drive a police truck through a gang pad's fence in Invercargill so firefighters could get in and control a blaze inside. "It was quite funny because no-one told me that you were supposed to pull up to the fence and gently nudge it over." He hit the fence at speed, knocking it over, and ended up well inside the property. "The problem was I couldn't reverse the truck out because there were police coming in and party-goers going out. "So I had to stay where I was behind the wheel and I got a punch in the head from a bikie who was unhappy about their party being closed down on the way past." Sgt George said it was an exciting "good old-fashioned dust-up". Back then there was a lot more direct leadership in the force, he said. "We got told in no uncertain terms by the senior cops if we'd made a mistake. But you learn from that." About 15 years ago, there were a lot of problems with inner-city violence and a lot of police were put back on the beat with a particular focus on the Octagon. Sgt George said he and his team came up with some simple but effective strategies to deal with the issue including intercepting unaccompanied juveniles and intoxicated people and encouraging them to go home. "Looking back on it that was probably the most rewarding time on the street." There had been a lot of ups and downs but he could not see himself doing any other job. He had struggled with the general direction of policing of late but still very much believed in it as an institution. "I think Dunedin is well served and long may it continue." Sgt George will be taking July off to follow the British and Irish Lions rugby tour to Australia and is in no rush to get into another job.
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Health
- Otago Daily Times
Honorary degrees awarded
It has probably been a long time since David Gerrard felt like a fish out of water. If the 1964 Olympian and 1966 Commonwealth Games swimming gold medallist was feeling out of his depth yesterday, at an event to honour the University of Otago Medical School's leading medical graduates, the 80-year-old hid it well. After his successful swimming career, he gained a medical degree at Otago in 1977 and went on to become a sports medicine specialist, attending many Olympic Games as the New Zealand team doctor, chef-de-mission and medical commissioner, and three Rugby World Cups as the anti-doping commissioner. His published research in sports medicine and science has made an impact nationally and internationally, particularly in the area of anti-doping. He remains a consultant to several international medical committees. Yesterday, the emeritus professor was one of four leading medical graduates from the University of Otago to be awarded an honorary doctor of science, as part of the Otago Medical School 150th anniversary celebrations this weekend. He was humble about the honorary degree, and said it was not just a celebration of his personal journey, but rather a reflection of the foundation provided by the university in shaping who he is today. "I was fortunate to have been part of an inspiring academic community for over 40 years as an undergraduate, clinician and academic. "Mentors, peers and colleagues shaped my time at Otago, and in return, I trust I was able to share these values with students I was fortunate enough to work with and learn from. "I'm proud to be counted among the university's distinguished alumni." The other leading alumni to receive the honorary degree were Dame Margaret Sparrow, Prof Dinah Reddihough and Associate Prof Jioji Malani. Dame Margaret made extraordinary contributions to sexual and reproductive health throughout her career as a family planning educator and reproductive rights advocate. She pioneered contraception and abortion services for students and vasectomies for men, and was one of the first doctors to prescribe the emergency contraceptive pill and successfully campaigned for the introduction of legal and safe abortions in New Zealand. She was honoured by yesterday's acknowledgement. "Although in the 1950s and '60s there was inadequate education in sexual health, especially in the topics of contraception and abortion, the good basic training that I did receive enabled me to pursue a rewarding career in sexual and reproductive health," she said. Paediatrics Prof Reddihough is a leader in advancing knowledge about physical disability in childhood, and her work addresses the health and social inequities of young people with cerebral palsy. For her, the honorary degree was an unexpected privilege. "My work has been made possible because of my partnerships with many wonderful professionals over my career, and more especially with people with lived experience of disability, especially cerebral palsy, and their families who have inspired and encouraged me to do my best. "I have treasured memories of my student days, the various teachers and lecturers, my classmates and the campus of which I was a part." Assoc Prof Malani is a leading specialist in internal medicine and advocates for those with kidney disease, particularly in the Pacific region. He established Fiji's kidney dialysis unit and assisted in a world-class gastroenterology programme that has revolutionised the approach and treatment of gastroenterological conditions. The former University of Hawai'i clinical professor helped train 70 physicians for the Northern Pacific and establish what is believed to be the first postgraduate medical training programme in the Pacific region. He said it was "a profound honour" to be acknowledged by an institution he holds in such high regard. "My journey at the University of Otago as a medical student has been nothing short of transformative. "The university's commitment to excellence is evident in both its academic offerings and the invaluable life skills it imparts."
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Governance about realising responsibility for ‘whole piece'
Accountant and governor Rachel McLauchlan answers questions at a lunch for women in governance in Dunedin this week. PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON Being asked to join a board is a privilege and aspiring directors need to understand it is a huge responsibility that must be taken seriously, Rachel McLauchlan says. Since returning to Dunedin 14 years ago after a decade working in London, Ms McLauchlan has developed a strong interest in governance across various sectors including property, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), manufacturing, technology and education. Responsibility for board decisions sat with everyone. "It's about everyone realising they are responsible for the whole piece," she said. It was while working for a United States-listed company in London that the chartered accountant had the opportunity to see so many different aspects of such a huge organisation, including strategic decisions being made. Questioning the reasons behind those decisions started to whet her interest in governance. That was coupled with her brother's own prominent career in business and governance and him talking to her about what was going on in his world. Describing herself as a very proud Dunedinite — and also very proud mother-of-three — Ms McLauchlan grew up in the city, attending both school and the University of Otago, completing degrees in commerce and law. After graduating, she moved to Auckland, embarking on her professional career at KPMG where she had an "amazing time", with exposure to many different industries, businesses and sectors. She later travelled overseas with her husband and landed a role with the US-listed company in London. Shifting from practice into industry was a big step, she recalled. Returning to Dunedin was also a big step professionally, having been away for quite some time. But she was loving living and working in the city and being part of the community. Her first network connection was through the Institute of Directors, an organisation which people encouraged her to join. Former branch manager Vivienne Seaton suggested she do the governance development programme and she discovered a "fantastic network of people". While she was an accountant and also did consulting, she was interested in exploring the governance space and the institute had been very good at opening the pathway and giving her ideas on how to do that and what skills she needed. She has served on the board of Whitestone Cheese and is currently on the boards of Otago Innovation, Hillcrest Properties, Columba College board of governors and is a trustee for the Transition to Work Trust. Asked who had been instrumental in her governance career, Ms McLauchlan said she had "just clicked" with Queenstown-based professional director Sarah Ottrey whom she got chatting to during a coffee break at an Institute of Directors national conference. Over time, she was someone she would bump into and, once she got to know her, she was able to "pick her brain" and ask her for ideas. "Sarah is just wonderful, she gives up so much time for people. You need someone like that in your life you can pick the phone up or ask a question," Ms McLauchlan said. Flipping that around, she now tried to do that with other people. Another influential person had been her late father who was also involved in the business community in Dunedin and was a very positive person, something that she also endeavoured to be. Management did not sometimes understand what governance was there for and what a director actually did. Some people were "almost scared" of board meetings and directors and that was a real shame. "Directors are on the team of the business, they are just part of the organisation. They are the umbrella on top of everything." For those starting their governance career, it was a huge learning curve particularly when they joined their first board because they were trying to understand not only a business, but also the terminology which could be very specific to that business. So it was about listening, particularly in that first year, and being respectful of institutional knowledge — "sitting there and tapping into it as much as you can". When considering a role, it was important to do due diligence — "please understand the financials of any organisation" — get a feel of it and ensure it was the right fit. Directors needed to be clear about why they wanted to be on a board. Many governors started their career in not-for-profit roles and the experience gained there, whether on school boards or sports organisations, threw up a huge amount of governance issues. "I think you see it all, I think it's great preparation for going into that commercial space." There was a "very delicate dance" between governance versus management and the critical thing in any board and management relationship was a good relationship and alignment between the chairman and chief executive. "If that relationship is not strong, the organisation is not going to flourish." Asked what directors were thinking about at the moment, she said board succession was relevant and, with that, a skills matrix. When looking at a board, it was important to understand the skills of each board member. "Everyone brings something different to the table." Lately there had been government policy changes and discussion around how that was impacting organisations. Boards were also grappling with the "tariff world". "It's quite an unsettled world at the moment and people are quite unsettled. Being aware of that is really important," she said. Plus, everyone was talking about artificial intelligence. While there was a lot of debate around it, Ms McLauchlan said it was "just another tool to use". Asked how her own values had supported her, Ms McLauchlan said being someone who was trustworthy was very important. "Trust for me is critical. Feeling like people can trust you and you can trust in someone else is really important. If you don't have that, you have a problem." Building connections and relationships with those you worked with was also important and having integrity and showing respect — even if you did not agree with a point of view — was critical, she said. Asked about imposter syndrome, Ms McLauchlan said "the feeling of being completely out of your comfort zone" was common going into a new board setting, but that was normal. If she was feeling a little uncomfortable, she would ask lots of questions — not necessarily at a board meeting — and, if she was not understanding things, she would reach out to the organisation. There was no such thing as a silly question. When it came to culture, that could change very quickly and it did not take much to upset the culture of a board, particularly if strong personalities were involved. "For me, a lot of culture comes from that respect that everyone has for each other and that philosophy of supporting each other and being aligned with the purpose of the organisation and what you're there for. "When you've got a good culture, work really hard to hold on to it," she said.
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Health
- Otago Daily Times
A vocation to heal
Training at the Otago Medical School has changed dramatically over the years, but the dedication to care remains a constant, Paul Gorman discovers. Dunedin may still be waiting for its new hospital but look on the bright side - this weekend there will be a couple of hundred extra doctors at the other end of town. King's Birthday marks the Otago Medical School's 150th anniversary, with more than 300 alumni, current students, staff and other guests expected from around the country, Australia and the United States. The oldest attendee is believed to have graduated in 1954, with other graduates from 1960 onwards. The celebration of a century and a-half of medical teaching, clinical training and medical research at the University of Otago will include lectures, tours and displays, a gala dinner and even the Humerus Medical Revue . However, despite the excitement and happy reunions, the sharing of stories and advice, the anniversary comes amid warnings that graduates face an increasingly challenging work environment. The 150th will also provide vivid reminders of the antagonism and bigotry early female students experienced from males at the school. Biographies of 150 of the more than 400 women who graduated MBChB between 1896 and 1967, (when the country's second medical school opened in Auckland) feature in Against the Odds (Massey University Press), by Prof Cynthia Ferguson and Michaela Selway, which is being launched in Dunedin this weekend. The stories of chauvinism from academics and fellow students alike, the practical jokes and the stern words from lecturers they were wasting everyone's time, the exclusion from functions and the ongoing teasing, are shocking, but reveal that it made the women more determined to succeed. As Ferguson says, one of the worst aspects is how long the sexism persisted. ''While it isn't nice, you expect to hear about these moments of hostility from the early years because these were the women bucking the system. ''But though it lessened, it continued all the way through to the end of our time period. Actually, it went beyond. When I was an undergraduate at Auckland Medical School I was told by a fellow student that I was taking a man's space.'' Prof Stephen Robertson would love to be at the anniversary. He says he has always enjoyed medical school reunions, but this time he is deep in the throes of a sabbatical in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Robertson is the Curekids Professor of paediatric genetics at Otago University and graduated from the medical school in 1990. After that he pursued a Doctor of Philosophy at Oxford University. He also specialises in clinical genetics. For him, class reunions have been a chance to talk with peers about the ups and downs of their professional lives. ''These are the people you're mixing with who recognise you from your formative years when you were unmoulded clay and they're just fascinated and interested about what you've ended up doing, and what sort of shape you are [in] now. ''We all recognise that we lead this tenuous and rather difficult professional life where, you know, things could sometimes be very, very good and sometimes be really really difficult and challenging. ''I hesitate to use the word 'bad' but, as one of my old classmates said to me at a reunion, we all know everybody's had a hard time in some way or another. ''Some of us know the details and some of us don't, and it's a great leveller.'' There's no doubt the pressure on medical professionals is increasing, Robertson says. ''We have rising public expectations, rising professional expectation in terms of how much we need to look after our patients, and then a sinking lid on resources. ''GPs are possibly at the sharp end, most of all, because the public have unfiltered access to them. ''The big challenge is finding the head space and the heart space to be a humanistic deliverer of care, and because we've been crowded on those three sides, that erodes you. ''There's no doubt about it - you find less and less space, and less and less resilience, to be an attentive and caring person. ''And I think in the end people end up in debit and it erodes them. ''It's terrible because - and it might be an unpopular thing to say - some of our brightest and best people choose to study medicine. ''They're not just talented in terms of their ability to pass exams, but they're talented in all these other directions in life. They're absolutely phenomenal people. ''But they're the people that end up ending their career not full of a surfeit of achievement, but having been really worn down. ''People somehow need to be able to find a space where they do enough medicine to be competent and remain on top of their game, but not too much that's so pressured that they end up being eroded. ''I don't think our current health system allows someone to inhabit that space. I think in the end, if you try to be a really top-notch doctor, you end up personally paying more than you receive.'' Doctors and the medical profession face unique challenges in Aotearoa, he says, and not just the ethnic differences in wellbeing, health delivery and uptake. ''That gets a lot of air time. But there's the uniqueness New Zealand's got in terms of being a nation that's relatively young, with the sort of class society that we have, which is relatively even but with gaps arising and an increasingly large class of people on the poverty line who are really struggling and those who are extremely wealthy. ''And, also, the challenges that we have economically as a nation that aspires to be innovative and developed, but still very commodity driven. ''All of these have impacts on health. And the fact we're a geologically unstable country that sits in the Roaring Forties and we're having these weather systems bubble up from there and bubble down from the subtropics. ''So adapting to a changing climate ... might be all the way from pathogens to how we build our homes and build our cities. ''Also, think about our rural-urban split, and how rural New Zealand is handling their health challenges and how they should be serviced, and what their culture and sociology is like versus the culture and sociology in urban centres.'' A further challenge is to ensure enough graduates move into science as well as working as clinicians. ''As a physician scientist, I'm still practising medicine, and I still do my clinical genetics as well as run my research lab. ''The people who are inclined could be given the chance to do some science and perhaps consider whether their clinical practice could be mixed with science. ''I know they are only a minority, and the vast majority of people go to med school because they want to be a healthcare practitioner. But we need our scientific workforce because we've got unique challenges.'' Robertson returned to Otago in 2002 and ''closed the loop''. ''I've come back home to my alma mater to walk the same corridors which I walked as a student. It's quite nostalgic at times, and it brings back lots of memories, good memories. ''I had a wonderful time as a med student in Dunedin. Not only was it a fun place to grow up amongst good friends, life-long friends, but also intellectually it was where things took off for me. Being back here, and having my lab here in the Hercus Building, closed that circle. ''Otago has been a fantastic place for me. So, I'm a bit sad that I am not going to be in town.'' ''Fantastic'' may not have been the adjective first-year female students applied to their experience of the medical school, as Against the Odds suggests: ''As they took their places in the front row of the lecture theatre - as they had been advised to do by women students in the years ahead of them - they were greeted with boos, whistles and stomping from the young men in the back rows. Some noticed the words 'Women's place is in the home' engraved into their desks. Some professors stood at the lectern and declared, 'I see we have females. You have taken a male's place and will waste it ... You are all going to get married and have children and it will have been a waste of time training you'.'' Then there were the demands from male students for the women to strip when a professor said the class would be ''listening to hearts today''. ''It might be professors ignoring them or calling them 'chaps' and addressing the whole class as 'gentlemen'. It might be midway through the academic year, when it was time for lectures on reproductive organs and contraception, and a professor would declare, 'I now come to the part of my lectures I refuse to give before women. Therefore, the women must leave the room, or I will leave'.'' During dissections, ''pieces of flesh would be slid into their lab pockets'', or in lessons on the female anatomy male students and academics might make inappropriate comments. ''Experiences such as these, or variations of them, have been recounted by many of the women who studied at the Otago Medical School across the seven decades covered by this book. Not every woman experienced such hostility and, indeed, many were adamant that they did not ever encounter sexism or discrimination, either during their studies or throughout their careers. Others said that at that point in their lives they 'hadn't heard of the word ''harassment''. We didn't know about that. We just felt we weren't fitting in well enough'.'' The female graduates between 1896 and 1967 ''certainly had the odds stacked against them'', the authors say, with an average gender ratio of 90% men and 10% women. ''Their stories highlight not only the barriers they encountered but also their remarkable achievements. These pioneering women did more than just break into a male-dominated profession: they redefined it. Their legacy is one of perseverance, hard work and the pursuit of equality, and it continues to inspire and guide women in medicine today. ''The history of medicine in Aotearoa New Zealand is richer and more inclusive because of the invaluable contributions these women have made, reminding us that progress is built on the foundations laid by those who dared to challenge the established order, against all odds.'' AI cannot replace compassion: Professor Advances in medical education using artificial intelligence cannot be allowed to replace the enduring core values and compassion of practitioners, Prof Tim Wilkinson says. In the New Zealand Medical Journal last week, Wilkinson, a professor of medicine and medical education at Otago University's Christchurch campus, said there were plenty of challenges ahead for teaching and learning. These included ''competency-based education, personalised learning, and the integration of AI''. ''These developments must be grounded in enduring values: professionalism, teamwork, and community engagement. ''The central task remains unchanged: to train doctors who are not only knowledgeable and skilled, but also compassionate and committed to those they serve.'' In its early decades, the Otago Medical School mostly followed international teaching trends, he says. However, confidence grew and so did the appetite for innovation, including in rural medical training. ''By 2007, Otago had launched its Rural Medical Immersion Programme. ''This highly successful fifth-year placement immerses students in rural settings using a longitudinal integrated clerkship model. ''All students benefit from some rural exposure - even if they never practise in those settings - because understanding the needs of rural colleagues is essential to team-based care. ''This led to the philosophy of 'a lot for a few, and some for everyone', which means that, today, Otago medical students are placed in 57 towns and localities across New Zealand, 48 of them rural or regional, working with 135 medical practices.'' Otago has achieved international recognition for its medical education assessment, its work in Hauora Māori and Indigenous curriculum development, and admissions policies, have contributed to a ''student body more reflective of New Zealand society''. ''Otago is now recognised as a leader in rural health, assessment, interprofessional learning, and Indigenous health - not simply catching up, but helping set the pace.'' The role of doctors has evolved into a team-based one, Wilkinson says. ''Likewise, teachers have moved from knowledge-holders to learning-facilitators. ''Medical schools no longer own learning resources exclusively; instead, students and staff evaluate and co-curate such materials from many sources. ''Amid these advances, a new future tension is emerging: how far training should be personalised when healthcare is rarely practised alone. ''We assess students as individuals, but the work is always in teams. Learning may be increasingly individualised - but care must always be collective.'' Technology will keep changing how medicine is taught, ''but it must never change why we teach''. ''Our task is to shape doctors who are not only skilled and adaptable, but deeply connected to the people and communities they serve. ''That commitment - to care, to professionalism, to collective purpose - is what must endure, even as we continue to balance past wisdom with future innovation,'' Wilkinson's article says.
Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Science
- Otago Daily Times
Outreach initiative marking 10th visit
Tūhura Otago Museum may have become a victim of its own success. An initiative that started as a one-off science outreach visit to a school in Niue back in 2018 has grown into an international engagement programme spanning the Pacific. Since that first trip to Niue, the museum has put on science showcases in Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Mangaia, Tonga, Fiji and Samoa. The problem was, the year after it started, there was a 30% increase in the number of students wanting to study science at NCEA level, and the jump in numbers had swamped the small number of science teachers in the Pacific Islands, museum outreach programme leader Dr Craig Grant said. "There have been some challenges resulting from the success of previous visits, that the team is now trying to address. "We ended up partnering with experts from the University of Otago to run a number of Zoom science sessions, to help with the influx." The partnership was about to go one step further, the University of Otago's biochemistry department donating a range of surplus science lab equipment to schools across the islands, he said. Biochemistry department head Prof Peter Dearden said it was great to see the expos igniting such an interest in science. "But to sustain that, the students need gear to practice science themselves. "We're delighted to be able to help by providing some of our surplus equipment. "Items that are no longer of use to us because of changes in lab tech will still be very useful in Niue — simple things like test tubes aren't that easy to access when you're an island over 3000km away." Dr Grant is about to lead the museum team in another Science Expo in Niue, at Niue High School on June 10-14. He said it would mark the 10th Pacific science engagement tour since that first Niue visit. "It's just snowballed," he said. "Our very first effort was to share the Far from Frozen climate change showcase with Niue High School. "It was really timely and the response we got was fantastic. "One of the community leaders commented they were reliant on social media for their information about climate change, so did not know what to believe or not. "That's a terrible predicament to be in. So, we've made every effort since to keep engaged and share more and more science." Key to the expo's successes had been presenting science in an accessible and hands-on fashion. They were designed to be highly mobile and centred around an important topic or area of science, he said. "Students love the hands-on interactives and demonstrations. "They learn far more by the process of trying and doing, rather than being talked at." The upcoming Niue Expo was titled Tūhura Tuarangi Space Science Showcase, and would feature a piece of space junk from Russian spacecraft Kosmos-482, he said. The probe was launched in 1972, on a mission to land on Venus, but it failed to escape low Earth orbit. It recently made news headlines after it crashed back on Earth. A trail of titanium-based bits of the craft were scattered across Canterbury and North Otago. "It'll be awesome to show the kids a real piece of space junk, alongside some actual meteorites, and get them to reflect on the fact that what they see in the sky at night is not all of nature's making."
