More than 1000 GPs, nurses, and health professionals have now registered to come to Auckland in April for the Asia-Pacific regional conference on family medicine. More delegates are expected to register in the coming weeks.
The WONCA (world organisation of family doctors) conference will bring together leaders in the field of general practice to explore scientific and human contributions to the future of medicine.
Lynne Hayman, CEO of The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners said, “this is the first time in 20 years that New Zealand has been chosen to host WONCA.
“The conference is a brilliant opportunity to showcase New Zealand’s multicultural GP workforce and share experiences from the diverse population our GPs care for.”
Key themes of the conference will cover climate change, equity in medicine, rural health, and mental health and have attracted New Zealand speakers of international reputation, including:
Elizabeth Iro (Cook Islands) trained as a nurse and midwife in New Zealand who is now Chief Nursing Officer at the World Health Organisation.
Professor James Renwick was awarded the Prime Minister’s prize for science communication in 2018. His main field is large-scale climate variability and climate change, including the impacts of climate variability and change on New Zealand and the Antarctic.
Tony Fernando is a consultant psychiatrist and sleep specialist, who has won awards for his work on medical education and sleep medicine. In 2017 he received temporary ordination as a Buddhist monk in Myanmar.
Professor Papaarangi Reid (Te Rarawa) is Head of Department of Māori Health at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland whose research interests include analysing disparities between indigenous and non-indigenous citizens as a means of monitoring government commitment to indigenous rights.
They will be joined by a top shelf of international experts in their respective fields, Professor Ian Couper (rural health), Professor Trish Greenhalgh (evidence based health care), and Associate Professor Alex Ng (health equity). In addition to keynote and plenary speakers, 300 academically assessed sessions will be delivered by a range of local and international health professionals to their peers across the five-day conference.
Included in the programme will be the annual Fellowship graduation ceremony where we celebrate our doctors who have successfully completed their specialist vocational training and been awarded Fellowship of The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners.
The conference is being co-hosted by The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners, The New Zealand Rural General Practice Network, and Te Ohu Rata o Aotearoa - Māori Medical Practitioners Association.