Auckland Seminars

Seminar 1

1. Choosing a medical specialty with a panel of registrars

Our panel of doctors will look at the realities of their chosen specialties: the favourite parts of their job and the challenges. We’ll explore the things that surprised these trainees about their chosen specialty, the special opportunities to serve and how they chose their vocational pathway. A couple of these doctors have taken time out of their training and we’ll hear their stories about what they learnt during this time.  We anticipate this seminar will be of interest to medical students & junior doctors considering their vocational pathway.  There will be time for Q&A along the way.  This session is facilitated by Ben Thompson who knows a thing or two about the realities of medicine from being married to a doctor.

Click here for information about the five panelists.

2. Listening: The space for grace - What young people have taught me in eight years of youth health with Dr Cheryl Bollen

Cheryl has been a GP for 30 years and a Youth Health specialist GP for 8 years. She will share what the young people have taught her over the journey and some of the tools she has found helpful as she walks with them, dispensing good medical care, seasoned with grace, love and hope.

3. Reading gospel stories as health professionals today with Rev Dr Sarah Harris

 This seminar will be a practical and explanatory discussion of the nature of healing stories. How do we translate these into today's world?

Sarah has taught New Testament Studies at Carey Baptist College since 2012. Her academic interests are the Gospel of Luke, hermeneutics, women and children in the ancient world, and social reconstruction of daily life.

Seminar 2

1. Parenting and medicine with a panel of three couples

Is it possible to combine a medical career with a family in a way where both flourish?

Questions like this tend to feature prominently during coffee after ward rounds and can weigh heavy when choosing a specialty in medicine. In this seminar three couples at various stages of parenting & careers chat about how they’ve combined parenting and medicine. They’ll share the highs and lows, what they’ve learnt along the way, their favourite parenting resources and how they’ve chosen to structure their family rhythms in a way that works for them. This session is facilitated by GP Dr Helen Saunders.

Click here for information about Helen Saunders and the panelists.

2. Caring for your soul - spiritual practices, connecting with God with Dr Angelika Halstead

The great disease of our times that causes most of our individual and social troubles is “loss of soul”. Understanding the nature and needs of the soul is therefore paramount. But what exactly do we mean by “soul” and how can we embrace soulful ways of being? This seminar is based on a psycho-spiritual model and responds to these questions. It offers tools for our journey home where we live from a place of genuineness and depth and where we are divided no more.

Angelika has a background in pharmacy, education, counselling and spiritual direction. Her PhD focused on psycho-spiritual growth and transformation through therapeutic writing.

3. Overseas Mission: Opportunities and Privileges with panelists Rob Reynolds (SIM), Dr Helen Clark (WEC), Claire Hodgkins and Desiree Snyder (Marine Reach)

Representatives from mission agencies SIM, WEC and Marine Reach will summarise what their mission does and where, what the opportunities for medical students or graduates are for long or short term service, and the privileges and challenges of responding to Christ's call to 'go and make disciples of all nations' in overseas contexts.