New Zealand Medical Students’ Association
Media release
Medical Leadership Development Seminar Paving the Way
-Students launch new initiative-
The future leaders of the medical profession will gather in Wellington this week.
Seventy medical students, chosen out of more than 200 who applied, will take part in the inaugural New Zealand Medical
Leadership Development Seminar (MLDS) on July 21-23. The Seminar aims to provide skills and inspiration to medical
students with the potential to become leaders in their profession and society.
“The New Zealand Medical Students’ Association (NZMSA) believes medical students have the power and opportunity to
develop skills that will help them become effective advocates for positive change, both in medicine and the wider health
arena,” says Xaviour Walker, President of the NZMSA which is organising the event.
Speakers include a wide range of political and medical figures, including former Cook Islands Prime Minister Sir Tom
Davis, the first Cook Islander to qualify as a doctor in New Zealand, and who later worked as a research physiologist
with senior appointments including developing the US space programme.
MLDS will be only the second time that medical students from around the country have ever convened together.
The seminar follows on from a similar and highly successful event in Australia last year. Rosemary Wyber, one of three
New Zealand students selected to attend the Australian seminar, is now MLDS convenor.
“We hope by providing students with opportunities such as MLDS we can continue to encourage an interest in the important
area of leadership, thereby empowering medical students to be active participants in determining the health outcomes of
New Zealanders, both while at medical school and as doctors in the future,” says Ms Wyber.
The New Zealand Medical Association (NZMA) has given its emphatic support for the event. “Today’s medical students are
tomorrow’s doctors, and the New Zealand Medical Association is proud to support this excellent initiative which will
encourage and help medical students develop their leadership potential,” says NZMA Chairman Dr Ross Boswell.
Participants will hear from a wide range of speakers, including MPs Dr Jackie Blue and Sue Kedgley, the Health and
Disability Commissioner Ron Paterson and recently resigned CEO of Waitemata DHB Dr Dwayne Crombie. There will also be
the opportunity for interactive discussion and workshops with speakers, as well as a dinner with Governor-General Dame
Silvia Cartwright and Brigadier (Dr) Brian McMahon, whose distinguished army and medical career has seen a tour of
active duty in South Vietnam, as well as acting as Honorary Physician to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and participating
in numerous humanitarian roles.
There are a range of topics in the seminar, covering four key themes of ‘leadership in medicine’, ‘the politics of
health’, ‘Maori and Pacific Island health’ and ‘medical education and workforce’. The event will be opened by the
Minister of Health, Hon. Pete Hodgson, at a cocktail gala in Parliament on Friday 21 July.
ENDS