Women in Health Network

Last October 14, Women in Health Network Auckland Branch held it’s Annual General Meeting, presented with a recap of our achievements in 2024, as well as the election of new executives for 2025! ✨ Being the Physiology Specialty Lead this year, it was a wonderful experience of leadership, networking, as well as connections with different wāhine aspiring to be a healthcare professional. My role as a Specialty Lead includes: 🎀 Representing my degree and promoting our events within my cohort 🎀 Working alongside our Co-Directors of Mentoring 🎀 Guiding my mentoring group alongside with their mentees 🎀 Representing my degree to secondary school students 🎀 Coordinating with the planning of events for our mentoring programme Reflecting on my fulfilling journey with WiHN Auckland Branch, serving as an executive has been a life-changing experience for me that I will always treasure. It wasn’t just a club for me, but it was also sisterhood that I will value for life. As my role for WiHN 2024’s Physiology Specialty Lead comes to a close, I want to thank my wonderful team of executives that has supported, encouraged, and inspired me throughout this year, whether it may be in healthcare or in life; Natalie, Naomi, Claire, Yashka, Cynthia, Casey, Saskia, Margot, Jasmine and especially our Co-Directors of Mentoring, Xin and Yuvani for supporting our specialty leads. I am also forever grateful for the connections I made with my fellow Specialty Leads, Kaavya, Girisha, Hansi, Janiz Lyncy Gregorio, Ariba, Cassidy, Asia, Serina, Annika, and Isobel, thank you for the support and leadership you have shown that also inspires me. I would also like to thank my 2023 self for not doubting in applying for this role, and believing in myself that I have the capabilities for this opportunity, and putting myself forward in something that I am passionate about. Before I even applied, my initial thought was “I’ll try it and see where it goes”, ever since then, I started believing in myself more, and searching and grabbing the opportunities that I encounter in life. I look forward to what 2025 holds for me! 🤍 #womeninhealthnetwork #womeninhealth #healthcare #health #auckland #newzealandhealth #fmhs #universityofauckland #uoa

✨We kicked off the second half of semester two with WiHN’s very first alumni event: Community in Healthcare! ✨ We tend to hear a lot about different specialties of health such as medicine, optometry, medical imaging, and so forth. What made this event unique was that it demonstrated the different facets of healthcare that are not specific to specialties, showcasing the interdisciplinary nature of healthcare professionals in the wider working setting. Facets included health administration/operations, business in health, clinical health, commercial health, digital health, public health, and graduate healthcare. These are the facets our members will encounter as they make their way through their degrees and enter the workforce, regardless of specialty. 🔍🩻🩺💻🥼🧪 The evening opened with an informal panel, essentially a modified roundtable open to the room. We then followed with a reflective workshop to facilitate whakawhanaungatanga which involved question jars to encourage connection, reflective worksheets for introspection, and some much needed colouring for decompression. A massive thank you to our speakers for bringing their enthusiasm and time: Emma Barraclough Kate Palmer-Neels Mariam Parwaiz Natalie Poša Rhea Colaabavala Seng Wyn Koo Sook Yee Yong 💝And our financial sponsors 💝 Spark Health MFAS: Medical Financial Advisory Services Ltd Mercy Radiology And finally our WiHN Alumni team for making this first step: Maitreyi Aria J. and Jamila Chen (陳) 🤩💕

I'm really looking forward to speaking alongside some incredible wāhine at the Women in Health Network event this Thursday! WiHN nurtures the next generation of women health leaders in Aotearoa and this week in Auckland they are having an evening of finding community across healthcare for the WiHN whānau. If you're a wāhine early in your health career, come join us! #healthcare #leadership #community https://lnkd.in/gx6YhYhW

WiHN UoA kicked off semester two with a fun-filled carnival night to thank our amazing mentors who volunteer their time to help first-year students. 🎪 The evening involved a number of carnival-style games and stalls such as balloon darts, henna, giant jenga, cornhole, tarot card reading, and candy floss. Attendees earned tickets for participating in games and redeemed these for a range of incredible prizes. 🎯 The event wouldn’t have been possible without the help of our generous goods sponsors: - The Women’s Bookshop - AWWA Period care - T Nail Diary - Hoyts Ormiston - Holey Moley Golf Club Auckland - SUPERSEED CRACKERS by Creative Cooking ltd - The Crafty Weka Bar - Archie Brothers Cirque Electriq Newmarket - Chocolate and Coffee Festival - Gong Cha - Auckland Theatre Company And, as usual, a huge thank you to our awesome financial sponsors: - Spark Health - MFAS: Medical Financial Advisory Services Ltd - Mercy Radiology

Dr Lee Mathias ONZM from Tend appeared on Seven Sharp last night to talk about Aotearoa's first ever Women's Health Week, highlighting a significant historical gap in the healthcare system. Historically, the medical field has been dominated by male doctors and surgeons, leading to a gender bias in medical research. For centuries, medical studies focused primarily on male biology, excluding women from clinical trials. This resulted in a lack of understanding and attention to health issues unique to women, such as menstruation, menopause, and pregnancy, which were often sidelined as mere "women's issues." The introduction of Women's Health Week marks a pivotal step towards addressing these disparities. Dr. Mathias emphasised the importance of annual health checks, encouraging wāhine to prioritise their health amidst their often demanding roles within families. Women's Health Week is purely a health promotion and education campaign, offering a wealth of information on women's health issues through its dedicated website, womenshealthweek.nz We're super excited to launch it coming next Monday 12th! 🤩 #WHWNZ #wāhinehauora #womenshealthweek

In semester one, WiHN Otago launched our very first book club! 📚 The first book that was explored was Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. Over some tea, hot chocolate, and biscuits, we discussed the major themes of ambition, gender roles, and identity. We also watched the first episode of the Apple TV show adaptation of the book, which invoked an interesting discussion! It was a lovely time for WiHN members to come together, meet like-minded people, and even make new friends, while increasing awareness of the problems women have faced, and face today when pursuing a career in science. We are very excited to host our semester two book club, with our next book being “There’s a Cure For This” by Dr. Emma Espiner! 

Our Auckland branch wrapped up semester one with two exciting events — Paint for Pride and Cocktail Night! 💌 Paint for Pride was our first-ever pride event, and brought together old and new together for an evening of colourful tote bag painting. A huge thank you to AUSA for collaborating with us on the event as part of pride week! 🏳️🌈 🎨 Cocktail Night brought together members of the Women in Health Network, Auckland University Women in Science (AUWS), and Robogals Auckland for a vibrant night of dancing! New friendships were formed and we captured these memories at the photo booth. 🕺 🎶 💃 Thank you to our Paint for Pride sponsors: - Auckland University Students' Association - MFAS: Medical Financial Advisory Services Ltd - Mercy Radiology - Antipodes - Kea Cookies - Clear Head Drinks

⚡ NOW OPEN FOR REGISTRATIONS ⚡ Our JUMP & JOURNEY mentoring streams are available now. Register for our September Cohort today! 📆 We match wāhine looking for advice and support with highly esteemed wāhine mentors across the motu, and provide a structured mentoring programme exclusively for wāhine working in health! Talk to up to three mentors about your priority issues or connect with one mentor over 6 months. It's up to you! 💃 🔥 For full details and sign-up, visit: https://lnkd.in/gku9-y8 🔗 Got questions? Send us a DM 🤗

⚡ NOW OPEN FOR REGISTRATIONS ⚡ Excited to announce our May registrations are open - JUMP & JOURNEY mentoring streams available. Register by May 10! New to Wāhine Connect? We are an Aotearoa based charitable trust, with an entirely voluntary network of INCREDIBLE wāhine mentors passionate about supporting all women working in our health sector. We match wāhine looking for advice and support with highly esteemed wāhine mentors across the motu, and provide a structured mentoring programme. 🔗 For full details and sign-up, visit: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gku9-y8 Got questions? Send us a DM 😊 #nznurse #nzdoctor #physionz #alliedhealth #medical #mentoring #womeninleadershipnz #bywahineforwahine #alliedhealth #WomenInHealth #womeninmedicine #NZWIM #wim

WiHN UoA is thrilled to recap our successful Money Talks event hosted on the evening of Thursday, April 18th! As part of Auckland University Students' Association's Self Care Week, this annual event is aimed at empowering young women to master their finances. Our four incredible speakers shared invaluable insights on managing money effectively, striking a balance between immediate wellbeing and future financial security. A heartfelt thank you to our distinguished speakers for making this event a reality: - Sue Stewart, AFA, CFP, Co-owner of Medical Financial Advisory Services Ltd - Hannah McQueen, Founder and Director of enable.me - financial strategy & coaching - Laura Leece, Director at PwC New Zealand - Jean Strock Financial Adviser at Saturn Advice Thank you to our generous sponsors for this event: - Auckland University Students' Association - MFAS: Medical Financial Advisory Services Ltd (Kōwhai Partner) - Mercy Radiology (Kōwhai Partner) - Kea Cookies - Clear Head Drinks - Sal's Authentic New York Pizza - Antipodes Here's to making smart financial choices and building a secure future! #WomenInHealthNetwork #FinancialEmpowerment #MoneyTalks #WiHN