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Gisela A. Kristono
Deputy Editor
Logan Z.J. Williams
Editor-in-Chief
Kia ora and welcome to Issue 29 of Te Hautaka o Ngā Akongā Rongoā, or the New Zealand Medical
Student Journal (NZMSJ)! This issue marks our 15th anniversary, which is a significant milestone for us
when we reflect on the achievements and growth of the Journal. We are delighted to continue to
present the high quality of work conducted by medical students and academics in Aotearoa.
The theme of this issue is, “Towards equity in healthcare”, which is a pertinent topic to both medical
students and other health care professionals in Aotearoa. There are many sub-topics to consider
regarding (in)equity in healthcare. Although we were unable to address them all in this issue, we
were fortunate to be able to address a significant proportion through our invited, feature, and
media review articles.
We are extremely grateful for Professor Peter Crampton’s invited article that presents a clear
message on how we have the ability to progress toward equitable outcomes for Māori and
Pasifikapeople from an individual to a governmental level. We are also privileged to have Dr Lucy
McKay, Director of Medics4RareDiseases, write a fascinating article on the current state of rare
diseases education in medical school and how her organisation is advocating for change.
We were pleased to receive so many feature article submissions related to our theme. Starting with
climate change, Cameron Toogood highlights its detrimental effects on groups most affected by
health inequities in Aotearoa, including low socioeconomic, Māori and Pasifika individuals. There is
an insufficient rural health workforce to provide an equitable rural health service across Aotearoa.
Benjamin Alsop-ten Hove reviews the wonderful initiatives conducted by student rural medicine
organisations and the New Zealand Rural General Practice Network to attract pre-tertiary students
living in rural areas to a vocation in health. Rex Liao provides an overview of Asian health. His article
is an informative introduction to a topic that has been largely neglected. In the annual review on the
New Zealand Medical Students’ Association’s (NZMSA) activities, Fraser Jeffery, the NZMSA
President, discusses how they have focussed on gender equity in medicine and improving leadership
diversity within their own organisation to be more representative of the students they represent.
We were delighted to invite the President of the Pacific Island Health Professional Students’
Association (PIHPSA), Fuatino Heath, and the Tumuaki of Te Oranga, Chayce Glass, to write articles
on how their organisations have represented and supported our Pasifikaand Māori students. Last
but not least, we have the first Māori Health Review article written by Emma Espiner, which is the
start of a new series for the NZMSJ. In this article, Emma discusses the Health Safety and Quality
Commission’s report on Māori health equity, the success of Te Ara Tika pilot smoking cessation
programme aimed at young Māori wahine, and a review presented at the Royal Australasian College
of Surgeons Annual Scientific Congress on indigenous peoples’ perspective on biobanking and
genomics.
The media review articles in this issue also support our theme. Emily Yi reviews the documentary,
“Unnatural causes: Is inequality making us sick?” and its associated online resources. For medical
students, the stories told in the documentaries helps them to understand the impact of social
determinants of health on health (in)equity. Meanwhile, Sylvia Duncan reviews the “International
Handbook of Health Literacy” by Okan et al., which serves to remind us the importance of health
literacy in achieving equitable health outcomes.
We were impressed by the calibre of work presented in our academic articles. Andrew Jayasuria et
al. conducted a study investigating medical students’ views on the teaching and learning of the male
genital examination, which is highly relevant to both medical students and academics. Dr Paul
Huggan wrote an overview of sepsis, which will be the first of a series on academic overviews for the
NZMSJ. We are also proud to publish Dr Steve Waqanivalvagi et al and Natalie Allen’s case reports
on ciguatera fish poisoningand an unusual presentation of Gianotti Crosti syndrome, respectively.
We have two additional feature articles to complete our impressive selection in this issue. As part of
our regular interview series, Tim Hall and Emily Yi met with Dr Debbie Hughes and Sue van Mierlo
from Anamata CAFE (Clinics and Advice for Everyone) to discuss their much-needed free sexual
health services for youth. It is fascinating to read about the services they provide that would not be
as easily done in the more structured health system. Last but not least, Associate Professor Robin
Turner et al. from the University of Otago Biostatistics Unit have kindly written another statistics
primer for us. This time, the article is on receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves, which is a
useful statistical concept to understand when reading clinical studies.
Finally, we would like to congratulate Rubayet Arafin, Robin Page and Michael Hayton for winning
this issue’s Creative Arts Competition. This competition is an ongoing collaboration with NZMSA to
showcase our fellow medical students’ creative talents. Rubayet and Robin both crafted poems
related to their clinical experiences, while Michael captured a stunning sunset and clear waters in his
photo.
The Editorial Board would like to thank the Universities of Auckland and Otago for their financial and
academic support towards the journal. We would like to thank the Medical Assurance Society for
their funding and the New Zealand Medical Journal for their guidance, as well as their financial
support for the new Verrall Award. The winner of this year’s Award will be decided from either our
previous issue or this one, and will be announced later this year. We would like to acknowledge the
NZMSA for their ongoing support, and our Advisory Board members for their advice and guidance.
Finally, the authors would like to thank the Editorial and Commercial Boards, and our reviewers, as
they have worked hard behind the scenes to enable this issue to be published.
We hope NZMSJ readers will enjoy the variety of engaging articles that Issue 29 brings. We would
like to congratulate all of the authors who have contributed towards it and encourage all readers to
submit their work to NZMSJ in the future.
Gisela A. Kristono
Deputy Editor
Logan Z.J. Williams
Editor-in-Chief
Kia ora and welcome to Issue 29 of Te Hautaka o Ngā Akongā Rongoā, or the New Zealand Medical
Student Journal (NZMSJ)! This issue marks our 15th anniversary, which is a significant milestone for us
when we reflect on the achievements and growth of the Journal. We are delighted to continue to
present the high quality of work conducted by medical students and academics in Aotearoa.
The theme of this issue is, “Towards equity in healthcare”, which is a pertinent topic to both medical
students and other health care professionals in Aotearoa. There are many sub-topics to consider
regarding (in)equity in healthcare. Although we were unable to address them all in this issue, we
were fortunate to be able to address a significant proportion through our invited, feature, and
media review articles.
We are extremely grateful for Professor Peter Crampton’s invited article that presents a clear
message on how we have the ability to progress toward equitable outcomes for Māori and
Pasifikapeople from an individual to a governmental level. We are also privileged to have Dr Lucy
McKay, Director of Medics4RareDiseases, write a fascinating article on the current state of rare
diseases education in medical school and how her organisation is advocating for change.
We were pleased to receive so many feature article submissions related to our theme. Starting with
climate change, Cameron Toogood highlights its detrimental effects on groups most affected by
health inequities in Aotearoa, including low socioeconomic, Māori and Pasifika individuals. There is
an insufficient rural health workforce to provide an equitable rural health service across Aotearoa.
Benjamin Alsop-ten Hove reviews the wonderful initiatives conducted by student rural medicine
organisations and the New Zealand Rural General Practice Network to attract pre-tertiary students
living in rural areas to a vocation in health. Rex Liao provides an overview of Asian health. His article
is an informative introduction to a topic that has been largely neglected. In the annual review on the
New Zealand Medical Students’ Association’s (NZMSA) activities, Fraser Jeffery, the NZMSA
President, discusses how they have focussed on gender equity in medicine and improving leadership
diversity within their own organisation to be more representative of the students they represent.
We were delighted to invite the President of the Pacific Island Health Professional Students’
Association (PIHPSA), Fuatino Heath, and the Tumuaki of Te Oranga, Chayce Glass, to write articles
on how their organisations have represented and supported our Pasifikaand Māori students. Last
but not least, we have the first Māori Health Review article written by Emma Espiner, which is the
start of a new series for the NZMSJ. In this article, Emma discusses the Health Safety and Quality
Commission’s report on Māori health equity, the success of Te Ara Tika pilot smoking cessation
programme aimed at young Māori wahine, and a review presented at the Royal Australasian College
of Surgeons Annual Scientific Congress on indigenous peoples’ perspective on biobanking and
genomics.
The media review articles in this issue also support our theme. Emily Yi reviews the documentary,
“Unnatural causes: Is inequality making us sick?” and its associated online resources. For medical
students, the stories told in the documentaries helps them to understand the impact of social
determinants of health on health (in)equity. Meanwhile, Sylvia Duncan reviews the “International
Handbook of Health Literacy” by Okan et al., which serves to remind us the importance of health
literacy in achieving equitable health outcomes.
We were impressed by the calibre of work presented in our academic articles. Andrew Jayasuria et
al. conducted a study investigating medical students’ views on the teaching and learning of the male
genital examination, which is highly relevant to both medical students and academics. Dr Paul
Huggan wrote an overview of sepsis, which will be the first of a series on academic overviews for the
NZMSJ. We are also proud to publish Dr Steve Waqanivalvagi et al and Natalie Allen’s case reports
on ciguatera fish poisoningand an unusual presentation of Gianotti Crosti syndrome, respectively.
We have two additional feature articles to complete our impressive selection in this issue. As part of
our regular interview series, Tim Hall and Emily Yi met with Dr Debbie Hughes and Sue van Mierlo
from Anamata CAFE (Clinics and Advice for Everyone) to discuss their much-needed free sexual
health services for youth. It is fascinating to read about the services they provide that would not be
as easily done in the more structured health system. Last but not least, Associate Professor Robin
Turner et al. from the University of Otago Biostatistics Unit have kindly written another statistics
primer for us. This time, the article is on receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves, which is a
useful statistical concept to understand when reading clinical studies.
Finally, we would like to congratulate Rubayet Arafin, Robin Page and Michael Hayton for winning
this issue’s Creative Arts Competition. This competition is an ongoing collaboration with NZMSA to
showcase our fellow medical students’ creative talents. Rubayet and Robin both crafted poems
related to their clinical experiences, while Michael captured a stunning sunset and clear waters in his
photo.
The Editorial Board would like to thank the Universities of Auckland and Otago for their financial and
academic support towards the journal. We would like to thank the Medical Assurance Society for
their funding and the New Zealand Medical Journal for their guidance, as well as their financial
support for the new Verrall Award. The winner of this year’s Award will be decided from either our
previous issue or this one, and will be announced later this year. We would like to acknowledge the
NZMSA for their ongoing support, and our Advisory Board members for their advice and guidance.
Finally, the authors would like to thank the Editorial and Commercial Boards, and our reviewers, as
they have worked hard behind the scenes to enable this issue to be published.
We hope NZMSJ readers will enjoy the variety of engaging articles that Issue 29 brings. We would
like to congratulate all of the authors who have contributed towards it and encourage all readers to
submit their work to NZMSJ in the future.
