Dr Lupe Taumoepeau FRACS, who is New Zealand’s only female vascular surgeon and is a senior member of the Pasifika Medical Association (PMA) says she’s honoured to be the first guest speaker of the Pasifika Health Leaders Webinar Series.
“We were really pleased with the turnout. The PMA has had a long association with Pasifika medical students and we wanted to do something to strengthen that relationship, to engage with them and share our own stories as role models,” she says.
“When I was a medical student there were very few Pacific Island doctors, let alone specialists, in hospitals. We want these students to understand that now, there are lots of us around. We want to reach out and let them know that we can help them anyway we can.”
The seminar was held earlier this month and was aimed at Pacific medical students studying in their fourth, fifth and sixth years of medical school. More than 100 students tuned in online and attended breakfast sessions at various hospitals across the country to hear the Tongan doctor talk about her journey since graduating from medical school in 2005 and forging a successful career in vascular surgery.
“I told my story about how I got to be where I am today, why I chose a career in medicine, my experience growing up in Auckland and why I chose to become a vascular surgeon. I gave the students an insight into what it’s like to be a Pasifika doctor.
I also talked about some of the discrimination that I have experienced. I gave them strategies to help with that and to recognise that it is out there. I also gave them a message that we can be part of the solution. I told the students you don’t have to deal with it alone and reminded them that there is a massive network of Pacific doctors who are willing to help and support them. We maybe small in numbers, but we are stronger when we stick together.”
The event was so successful that the PMA will be holding the webinars regularly and will have different Pacific medical specialists as future guest speakers.
“The feedback so far has been really positive. A lot of students have told us that being a Pasifika medical student can be isolating when they are on the wards and they weren’t aware that there were so many Pasifika doctors out there. So, events like this helps get the message out there that we are out there, and we are making a difference.”
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Date: Saturday 22 August 2020