Head of Regional Training Hub (RTH) Wide Bay, Associate Professor Pene Prasad been named Queensland Clinical Educator of the Year by the Confederation of Postgraduate Medical Education Councils (CPMEC) Australia and New Zealand.
The CPMEC Clinical Educator of the Year award recognises clinical educators across Australia and New Zealand who have made a major contribution to the education and training of junior doctors.
Interns and Resident Medical Officers (RMOs) across Australia are asked to nominate a clinical educator based on their contributions to the education, mentorship and advocacy of prevocational doctors.
Dr Prasad says she’s honoured to have won the award.
“I believe that all too often our prevocational doctors are forgotten or simply seen as service providers in our hospitals and often miss out on educational opportunities and investment in their future careers,” Dr Prasad said.
“I feel that the culture of our health system needs to change to appreciate, value and respect this cohort of medical professionals who work so hard for our community.”
As well as leading the RTH Wide Bay team, Dr Prasad is the Term Supervisor for interns and RMOs in Paediatrics at Hervey Bay Hospital.
The University of Queensland Rural Clinical School Director, Associate Professor Riitta Partanen, said she was immensely proud that Associate Professor Prasad's hard work had been recognised.
"It's wonderful to see that Pene's passion for education and mentorship has been acknowledged by those she teaches.
"We are lucky to have her here in Wide Bay, not only as a highly skilled clinician, medical educator, and leader within the Hervey Bay Hospital and the UQ Rural Clinical School, but also to nurture and encourage our future medical workforce to consider the possibilities a career in regional medicine can provide," Dr Partanen said.
Award winners will be recognised at the Australian and New Zealand Prevocational Medical Education Forum in Perth this November.
