I welcome the opportunity to join the Board of the Australasian Military Medicine Association (AMMA). As a serving officer in the New Zealand Army Medical Corps, and Senior Lecturer in the School of Clinical Sciences at the Auckland University of Technology, I am passionate about the role of Defence Force medics, their delivery of prehospital care, and their emergence as allied health professionals.
I have served in the New Zealand Defence Force since 1980. Completing a full career as a soldier, NCO and Warrant Officer — with appointments as RSM and Command Warrant Officer — I gained a commission and hold the rank of Major in the Royal New Zealand Army Medical Corps. I have completed operational deployments with the NZDF as well as eight years of regular force service, concluding with an appointment in 2014 as Chief Instructor of the Defence Health School. I remain a member of the NZ Army Reserve.
I have been involved with the delivery of emergency ambulance services and the training and development of health and military leaders for nearly 40 years. Gaining a National Certificate in Advanced Care in 1996, I worked as an Intensive Care Paramedic and ambulance manager in the central South Island until 2005. I am currently employed by the Auckland University of Technology as a Senior Lecturer and Military Programme Leader, volunteer with St John New Zealand, and am an appointed member of its National Clinical Governance Committee.
I hold a Bachelor of Health Science in Paramedicine, a Post Graduate Certificate in Education, a Certificate in Tertiary Teaching, a Graduate Certificate in Emergency Management and a Post Graduate Diploma in Health Science, and am studying within a Master of Health Science programme. I am a Commander of the Order of St John (C.St.J) and hold the New Zealand Distinguished Service Decoration (DSD).
