University of Sydney's Poche Centre to host showcase for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health initiatives

Website: http://www.usyd.edu.au/news/84.html?newscategoryid=1&newsstoryid;=5988

Date posted: 13.11.10

For the first time, a myriad of training and research initiatives in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health will be presented in the one forum facilitated by the University of Sydney's Poche Centre for Indigenous Health, on Tuesday, 16 November 2010.

The event will feature a "speed dating" style event, in which 50 presenters will have only a few minutes to present their area of research. The program is expected to provide an excellent opportunity for people to foster and strengthen Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health networks throughout the University of Sydney to benefit research and education in the area as a whole.

Poche Centre director Associate Professor Ngiare Brown was excited by the number of abstracts received from the University's faculties of medicine, nursing and midwifery, dentistry and allied health and pharmacy.

"To have so many people submit is fantastic," Associate Professor Brown said.

"We decided that rather than cherry picking a few abstracts to present, we could get everybody together at the same time so we could all see each others' work.

"It will be a good way to connect with colleagues and to get to know one another as teams, departments and professionals. We hope that by doing this we will create new agendas and a strategic plan for future developments through collaborations."

The forum will also feature a panel discussion entitled New Agendas, Future Directions. Facilitated by Jeff McMullen, former foreign correspondent for the ABC, its panellists will include Mr Romlie Mokak (CEO of the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association), Professor Steven Leeder (Director of the Menzies Centre for Health Policy), Dr Tom Calma (former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and Coordinator for Tackling Indigenous Smoking) and Associate Professor Ngiare Brown.

The Poche Centre for Indigenous Health was established by the University of Sydney in 2008 as a major initiative to improve the health and life expectancies of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It is named after businessman and philanthropist Greg Poche, who donated $10 million to the Sydney Medical School to fund its initial operations.

Presenters include:

• Professor Simon Chapman from the School of Public Health on The low daily smoking estimates derived from sales monitored tobacco use in six remote predominantly Aboriginal communities
• Associate Professor Kate Conigrave from the School of Public Health on The alcohol awareness project: community education and brief intervention in an urban Aboriginal setting
• Dr John Grootjans from Sydney Nursing School on White Skin Black Masks : A personal narrative on benevolent racism
• Kathryn Naden from Department of Rural Health (Broken Hill) on The Broken Hill health career pipeline: building health careers for rural and remote kids
• Amy Bolton from the Face to face cardiac clinic at the Aboriginal Medical Service Redfern.

Event details:
What: Poche Centre for Indigenous Health Symposium
When: 9am, Tuesday 16 November
Where: Refectory, Holme Building, Camperdown Campus

 

Last modified: November 24, 2010 2:38 PM