The daughter of the late Pasifika Medical Association (PMA) patron and Pacific pioneer, Dr Joe Williams (MBChB, MPH, QSM, QSO) hopes that the student who receives the PMA Scholarship in his honour will continue his legacy of serving the Pacific community.
Karin Williams says her father was dedicated to education and mentored several generations of Pacific doctors.
“He was all about science, education, and learning. He never stopped researching and would have been thrilled that there is a scholarship in his name to support these endeavours.”
Dr Williams was born in Aitutaki and attended Northland College in New Zealand. He graduated from Otago University’s Medical School in 1960 and further gained a Masters in Public Health at the University of Hawaii. He returned to the Cook Islands in 1964 and served his homeland in various roles including being the Medical Superintendent, Director of Health and Social Services and eventually becoming the Prime Minister in 1999.
He founded the Mt Wellington Integrated Family Health Care Clinic in Auckland, which served more than 15,000 patients who travelled from all over New Zealand to see him and he continued to treat his patients right up until his death last year. Dr Williams was proud of his heritage and always ensured that other Pacific doctors coming through were aware of their position as representatives of their nations.
“Dad tells this story in his memoirs about going back to Rarotonga as a junior doctor and meeting doctors who trained in Fiji who weren’t referred to as doctors, but as medical officers.
Dad insisted that they be called by their proper titles. Dad always felt that young Pacific Island doctors should have the respect accorded to them from their studies and achievements.”
This year PMA established the Dr Joe Williams Scholarship to honour his hard work and dedication to the organisation and the Pacific community. The scholarship is valued at $10,000 and will be awarded to an indigenous Pacific medical student accepted into specialist training in their first or second year of formal studies.
Karin hopes the person who is awarded the scholarship will be inspired by her father’s story.
“Dad was all about serving the community. That’s what drove him and he did that tirelessly throughout his whole career.
For the person who is going to receive this scholarship, they should remember that Dad’s legacy was all about the community. He was never about serving his own ego. He was a man of the people.
I hope the scholarship recipient will be inspired by this and continue the legacy of service.”
To apply for the Dr Joe Williams Scholarship and other PMA scholarships on offer, please visit the link below:
www.pacifichealth.org.nz/2021-pacific-health-education-scholarships/
#pmafamily
Date: Saturday 12 June 2021