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Engaged Members
Volume 12 No 2
I
March 2016
11
Dr Kate O’Connor
Radiologist at Auckland District Health Board
and Auckland Radiology Group
Elected Fellow on the Faculty of Clinical
Radiology Council
Background
I have spent my career as a radiologist
in New Zealand splitting time more or
less equally between the private and
public sectors. I have an interest in head
and neck imaging but work mainly as a
general radiologist.
I began my involvement with the
College when a colleague asked me
about 10 years ago whether I’d be
interested in being on the interview
panel for registrar selection for our
Auckland Regional Training Program.
Since then we have seen our local
interview process amalgamate with
the rest of New Zealand to what is now
a national MATCH trainee selection
system and are prepared to face the
challenges of the networked rotational
system for training now in place across
New Zealand and Australia. Subsequent
to that initial introduction to a College
role, I have gone on to become a
supervisor of training and an examiner
for the College Part 2 Viva exams.
Why I Am Involved
I have an interest in medical regulation,
professional standards and the health of
medical practitioners, which developed
during my time as an elected member
on the Medical Council of New Zealand
(MCNZ). I served three terms for a
total of 10 years and during that time
developed an understanding of the role
that colleges play in the maintenance of
professional standards, medical ethics,
training and quality improvement.
That tenure also emphasised the
importance of good governance and
the necessity to ensure that policies are
relevant, transparent and can achieve
their intended purpose. I had been
asked several times to be involved in
the College, mostly for the New Zealand
Branch, but the timing wasn’t right.
When I was sounded out last year about
standing, it seemed timely, nearly five
years after leaving MCNZ, to experience
the ‘other side of the fence’ and I am
very honoured to have been elected
to the role on the Faculty of Clinical
Radiology Council.
Encouragement to Others
The College may be perceived by
its membership as not being directly
relevant or, as can be heard in New
Zealand, as being more focused on
the Australian medical and Medicare
environment. However, as the College
is a member organisation it can only
do what we as members prioritise as
important and direct it to do. If you
don’t participate you can’t complain!
I would therefore encourage all
members to contribute opinions, offer
expertise and make time to engage in
and support College activities.
Dr Kate O’Connor
“If you don’t
participate you
can’t complain!
I would therefore
encourage all
members to
contribute and
support College
activities.”