Current Public Health Vacancies

Lecturer / Senior Lecturer in Public Health
Pūkenga/ Pūkenga Matua i te Mātai Hauora ā-Hapori Whānui
School of Health Sciences - Te Kura Mātai Hauora
College of Education, Health and Human Development - Te Rāngai Ako me te Hauora
University of Canterbury - Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha
Location: Christchurch, New Zealand - Ōtautahi, Aotearoa

Kia hiwa rā, kia hiwa rā!

He hiahia, he pūkenga nōu ki te mātai hauora ā-hapori whānui? He pōwhiri atu tēnei nā Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha kia tono mai te hunga i te tūranga Pūkenga, Pūkenga Matua rānei i Te Kura Mātai Hauora i Te Rāngai Ako me te Hauora.

·        Full-time at 37.5 hours per week (1.0 FTE)

·        Continuing (i.e. permanent) position

The closing date for this position is: Sunday, 8th September 2019 (midnight, NZ time)

How You Apply

Click HERE for further details and apply. 

Applications for this position are submitted online and should include a cover letter, a curriculum vitae which includes a list of relevant research publications and a 2-3 page statement outlining the research interests and goals. Please ensure your application is uploaded as a single pdf file and that the file name is your surname only.

Further information of an Academic nature can be obtained by contacting Professor Ray Kirk Deputy Head of School or Professor Lianne Woodward, Head of School. We are also happy to answer your queries in relation to the application process, please forward these to Michelle Davies, Recruitment Coordinator.

Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha - University of Canterbury is an EEO employer and actively seeks to meet its obligation under Te Tiriti o Waitangi - Treaty of Waitangi.

Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA) is currently recruiting for a Community Engagement Adviser to support Mai e Nima in delivering their healthy living programme to schools and the wider community in Tonga. 

Mai e Nima is a healthy living campaign that promotes and encourages children to eat fruit and vegetables in Tonga.  In October 2018 it formed a partnership with Tonga National Rugby League (NRL) giving it mandate to expand to all government primary schools.

Since aligning with NRL and with support from a VSA volunteer, Mai E Nima has gone through a rapid period of growth.  The programme now finds itself in a position where it has a strong base of lessons, new resources for teachers, and a team of young presenters.

In this assignment you’ll build upon the previous volunteer’s work and support the Mai E Nima team to confidently deliver its programme.  You will also help identify and engage key members of the community to ensure Mai E Nima’s messages are embedded in to daily life following delivery of the programme.

This is an exciting role if you have a background in health promotion, strong community engagement skills, and want to play a key role in the fight against non-communicable diseases in Tonga!

We are looking for a volunteer with:

• A relevant degree such as health science, health promotion, public health (or equivalent professional experience)
• Experience in a community development and/or engagement role
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Experience establishing and maintaining relationships with a variety of stakeholders
• Data analysis skills

VSA volunteers receive a living allowance and accommodation, insurance, and medical costs are provided. Travel arrangements are organised and funded by VSA along with other costs.

Please click HERE to apply. Application closes on 11 August 2019. 

Are you an experienced senior public health analyst passionate about improving the health of our population? Then we have the role for you.

As a Senior Public Health Analyst (Mixed Methods) in our public health unit Regional Public Health (RPH), you will have excellent analytical skills and the ability to scope, design and execute projects.  You will enjoy working alongside public health practitioners and fellow public health analysts in a supportive work culture.

You will engage well with internal and external stakeholders and be comfortable leading and supporting research, evaluation and analysis work from the very simple to the very complex.

Preference and aptitude for teamwork is essential, as is experience with mentoring others to develop their skills. You will also need to be a polished written and oral communicator able to present your work in crisp, simple language adapted to a variety of audiences.

Improving Māori health outcomes and reducing inequities are key priorities; therefore commitment to improving health equity and experience in analysis and presentation of data that is accessible and relevant to Māori is essential.

Key accountabilities and outcomes

•  Assist in leading the planning, development and delivery of a comprehensive work programme to produce high quality public health intelligence.
• Develop public health intelligence information that informs the targeting of RPH programmes/services, and helps to identify progress against the RPH priorities.
• Be a professional lead for RPH in evaluation design, survey design and analysis, health needs assessment, and outcomes logic modelling, evaluation, and qualitative analysis 
• Lead and carry out a variety of evaluation projects over a wide range of topics, incorporating both quantitative and qualitative methods and data analysis. 
• Assist with descriptive epidemiology, quantitative analysis, data visualisation and report writing

 Essential skills and abilities

• Post graduate qualifications in Public Health or similar, or equivalent extensive skills, experience and demonstrated competency in public health.
• Competency in a range of evaluation approaches, and ability to design evaluation to match the situation e.g. evaluating small community projects or RPH wide evaluations.
• Good understanding of epidemiology, statistical concepts and quantitative analysis.
• Excellent oral communication skills including the ability to debate, listen, persuade and influence, and to provide information clearly and succinctly.
• Excellent written communication skills including the ability to write reports, submissions, technical papers, minutes, letters to community groups, replies to complainants, and public information.
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex and technical ideas to others in a manner appropriate for the intended audience.

Regional Public Health is one of the three larger public health units in New Zealand and often takes a national leadership role. RPH provides public health services to the greater Wellington region, including Wairarapa (population approximately 515,000). 

For the job description, please click HERE

Applicants must have permanent residency or a valid long term working visa to be considered for this position.

Please complete an online HVDHB application and apply HERE (Use job search tool on the left side and search for the job title or Job number: 9111945A-19). We are unable to accept applications via email. 

For further information on this role, including salary steps, please email Tara.D’Sousa@huttvalleydhb.org.nz indicating the vacancy number and job title in the subject line.

This job applications will be open until Thursday, 11 July 2019

Hawke’s Bay District Heath Board has an excellent opportunity for a specialist who is looking for a new and exciting challenge in their Public Health Medicine career.

The post is a permanent 0.8 FTE role (negotiable). Duties and areas of responsibility will be negotiated with the Clinical and Executive Directors for the Health Improvement and Equity Directorate. 

You will be working in a centre of excellence for NZ Public Health practice that provides both professional challenges and a highly collegial work environment. You will be passionate about improving the health and wellbeing of our people and about eliminating health inequities experienced by disadvantaged groups within our community.

Your strengths will include:

• An ability to think strategically being conscious of the ‘big picture’ both globally and locally.  You will have a sound appreciation of current and future directions for Public Health and be able to apply this to the Hawke’s Bay context.
• An ability to adapt quickly to new environments
• To work effectively as both team member and leader
• An ability to investigate and manage communicable disease outbreaks and to assess and manage environmental health incidents is essential
• An ability to provide leadership in evaluating and developing health improvement programmes and public health services.
• Excellent written, oral and interpersonal skills, including the ability to apply them to the area of community consultation and liaison. 
• An ability to build relationships and work effectively with Tangata Whenua (first nation people) and other minority communities.

Hawke’s Bay, on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand, is famous for its warm and sunny climate and bountiful produce. The region’s population of 166,000 is spread between the twin cities of Hastings and Napier, and the surrounding countryside and towns.  The region is undergoing significant growth and is a great place for families with a number of excellent state schools and easy access to recreational opportunities.  Overall Hawke’s Bay offers an enviable lifestyle for you and your family - you won’t want to leave!  For more information on Hawke’s Bay’s lifestyle see here. https://www.hawkesbaynz.com/.

Applications for the above position are invited from Registered Specialists in Public Health Medicine or eligible for vocational registration with the Medical Council of New Zealand. Applications may also be considered from Medical Practitioners with an interest in public health and epidemiology or final year Public Health Medicine Registrars looking for experience in a supportive Public Health Unit.

If you have any questions about this position please contact Dr Nicholas Jones (Clinical Director) at Vacancies@hawkesbaydhb.govt.nz

To view the position profile please click HERE. Please apply online HERE

The Values of the Hawke’s Bay health sector are: 

He kauanuanu - Respect
Ākina - Improvement
Rāranga te tira - Teamwork
Tauwhiro - Care

Tēnā Tātou Katoa o te Māori Caucus PHANZ,                                                    

He Pānui - A call for nominations

We are currently seeking nominations for 2 interim representatives of Māori Caucus to the Executive Council of the PHANZ.

These 2 interim representatives will sit on PHANZ Executive Council until this year’s PHANZ AGM in September at which point the annual election will be held again for the Māori Caucus representatives for the next 2 years, 2019-2021.

Please consider carefully and nominate candidates who would be active in representing and advocating for Māori needs and issues on PHANZ Council.

We have an expectation that anyone interested in these positions will have the capacity (time and strategic) and commitment to actively engage and participate in both Māori Caucus and Executive Council.

• Meetings for PHANZ Council are 2-3 face to face all day hui a year plus AGM and zoom meetings as required.
• Māori Caucus hui are currently bi-monthly.

Māori Caucus has been in a rebuilding phase and we are enjoying positive momentum going into the second half of this year. We need to have strong Māori representatives on Council who can support council decision making, liaise and communicate clearly between Council and Caucus, and are dedicated to promoting Māori Public Health, Te Āo Māori and Te Tiriti perspectives and action on behalf of the Caucus.

If this sounds like you or someone you know then get on to it!!!

NB: For simplicity and transparency in this instance we are using a process similar to the PHANZ general elections.

• Nominations to be made by 5pm June 13^th. Please send all nominations via email to elections registrar Alyssa at PHA@pha.org.nz. Nominations to be accompanied by a 100 word bio/pitch by the nominees.
• If there are more than 2 nominations there will be an election.
• In which case nominee bios will be circulated after nominations close after 5pm on the 13th of June for consideration by the wider voting Māori Caucus membership.
• To be eligible to vote you must be a financial PHANZ member.
• Votes will be taken by an online voting form which will be available from 9am on the 14^th of June until 5pm on June 26^th.
• Results will be announced at the June 27^th hui

Ngā mihi mahana

Emma Rawson - Acting Chair, Māori Caucus and PHANZ Kaumatua Pita Pou

Any questions please contact Alyssa pha@pha.org.nz

Zero Carbon Bill is critical legislation for health, but targets are too little, too late

Health professionals have offered a mixed response to today’s release of the Zero Carbon Bill.

They applaud its purpose to prevent global warming of more than 1.5 degrees, but say aspects of the Bill lack the necessary urgency and accountability.

“The Bill’s targets as they stand today would be too little, too late,” says Dr Rhys Jones, Coconvenor of OraTaiao: NZ Climate and Health Council.

“The Zero Carbon Bill is too weak on agricultural emissions which comprise almost half of New Zealand’s total greenhouse gas emissions. We need to see a move away from beef and dairy for both the sake of human and planetary health,” says Dr Jones.

The Zero Carbon Bill sets a target of 10 per cent reduction in biological methane emissions by 2030, and aims for a provisional reduction ranging from 24 per cent to 47 per cent by 2050.

“Our food production systems are threatening local ecosystems and contributing to climate change, while unhealthy diets are a significant contributor to major health problems such as heart disease, diabetes and cancers. But on the other hand, a rapid transition to a healthy plant-based food system could go a long way to addressing major health issues including obesity, heart disease and protecting our drinking water.”

Dr Jones was speaking from the 2nd Sustainable Healthcare Forum in Wellington today where leaders from a range of sectors gathered to share ideas about reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the health sector. Forum participants have called on the Government to set greenhouse gas emission targets for District Health Boards.

“Health professionals are extremely concerned about the impacts of climate change on the health of people and communities. At the same time, we are excited about the health opportunities that well-designed climate action can bring,” says Dr Jones.

“A strong Zero Carbon Bill that emphasises fairness and upholds Te Tiriti o Waitangi is critical for a healthy future for New Zealanders.”

ENDS

Media Spokesperson: Dr Rhys Jones, 021 411 743

Dr Rhys Jones (Ngāti Kahungunu) (rg.jones@auckland.ac.nz) is a Public Health Physician and Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland, and Co-convenor of OraTaiao: The New Zealand Climate and Health Council.

OraTaiao: The New Zealand Climate & Health Council is a health professional organisation urgently focusing on the health threats of climate change and the health opportunities of climate action. See: www.orataiao.org.nz

Notes to editors:

About Climate Change and Health

Information is available in the following paper from the 2014 NZ Medical Journal: ‘Health and equity impacts of climate change in Aotearoa-New Zealand, and health gains from climate action’. http://www.nzma.org.nz/journal/read-the-journal/all-issues/2010-2019/2014/vol-127-no-1406/6366

Health threats from climate changes include: worsening illness and injury from heat and other extreme weather, changing patterns of infection including food poisoning, loss of seafood and farming livelihoods, food price rises and mass migration from the Pacific. Those on low incomes, Māori, Pacific people, children and older people will be hit first and hardest, but nobody will be immune to the widespread health and social threats of unchecked climate change. Direct and indirect climate change impacts are already being seen here from warming oceans and sea level rise.

Health opportunities from reducing greenhouse gas emissions, easing pressure on health budgets include: rapidly phasing out coal; switching from car trips to more walking, cycling and public transport; healthier diets lower in red meat and dairy; and energy efficient, warm homes will all cut emissions while also reducing the diseases that kill New Zealanders most and put our children in hospital – cancer, heart disease, lung diseases and car crash injuries.