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In 2023, a Diploma of Rural Generalist Anaesthesia (DipRGA) was implemented across Australia. Developed collaboratively by the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA), the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), the 12-month qualification is completed during or following ACRRM or RACGP Rural Generalist Fellowship training. Focused on the needs of rural and remote communities for elective and emergency surgery, maternity care, resuscitative care for medical illness or injury, and stabilisation for retrieval, the DipRGA supports rural generalist anaesthetists working within collaborative teams in geographically isolated settings. The goal is a graduate who can anaesthetise American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status class 1, 2 and stable 3 patients for elective surgery, provide obstetric anaesthesia and analgesia, anaesthetise paediatric patients and undertake advanced crisis care within their scope of practice. Crucially, they also recognise both limitations of their skills and local resources available when considering whether to provide care, defer, refer or transfer patients. DipRGA curriculum design commenced by adapting the ANZCA specialist training curriculum with consideration of the training approach of both the ACRRM and the RACGP, particularly the rural and remote context. Curriculum content is addressed in seven entrustable professional activities supported by workplace-based assessments and multisource feedback. Trainees are supervised by rural generalist anaesthetists and specialist anaesthetists, and complete flexible learning activities to accommodate geographical dispersion. Standardised summative assessments include an early test of knowledge and an examination, adapted from the ACRRM structured assessment using multiple patient scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of classics has been part of Australian and New Zealand higher education from the beginnings of tertiary education in these countries, followed shortly after by the study of ancient history. This article offers an analysis of current units of study in each Australian and New Zealand public university that continues to teach classics and ancient history. Set in the context of the origins of this field in both countries and contemporary debates on the value of studying not only the humanities in general but also classics and ancient history in particular, this article offers detailed analysis of what is taught and how universities conceptualize the merit and usefulness of this field of study. Analysis reveals some decline in more traditional areas, but also identifies the evolutionary trajectories that classics and ancient history have followed, including departures from the 'sober' political history to offerings that have been enabled by methodologies prevalent in social and gender history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Trends in New Zealand (NZ) medical students' health and the influence of a wellbeing curricula are unknown. Methods: The author's collected self-report data from NZ medical students on 'Graduation Day' from 2014 to 2018, using a serial cross-sectional survey design with validated scales assessing psychological health, stigma, coping, and lifestyle. Comparisons were made with NZ general population same-age peers. Analyses examined trends, differences between 'cohorts' of students receiving different exposures to a wellbeing curriculum, and correlations between students' own lifestyle practices and their frequency of talking with patients about those topics. Results: Of 1,062 students, 886 participated. The authors found statistically significant self-reported increases from 2014 to 2018 for negative psychological indices, including scores for distress and burnout, suicidal thoughts in the preceding year, and the likelihood of being diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. There was a significant increase in numbers of students reporting having their own doctor as well as increased healthy coping strategies and a significant decrease in stigma scores. Academic cohorts of students who had completed a wellbeing curriculum were more likely to report high distress levels, having been diagnosed with a mood disorder, and being non-drinkers than students without wellbeing training. When compared to NZ peers, medical students smoked less, exercised more, and were less likely to have diagnosed mood and anxiety disorders, but reported more distress. The authors found a significant correlation between the amount of exercise students undertook and their likelihood to discuss exercise with patients. Conclusions: NZ medical students have better physical health than general population peers and are more likely to discuss exercise with patients if exercising themselves. However, cohorts of graduating students report increasing distress despite the implementation of a wellbeing curriculum. Research is needed into mechanisms between students' self-awareness, willingness to report distress, stigma, mind-set, coping, and psychological outcomes, to inform curriculum developers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NEW ZEALAND HAS AN INTERNATIONALY unique approach to early childhood education, which includes a bicultural early childhood curriculum, a robust infrastructure of organisation and management overseen by the New Zealand Ministry of Education, and a growing reputation for innovation in early childhood teaching and learning. This paper examines how the current model of early childhood education emerged, the policy decisions that enabled current systems to be developed, the importance of the early childhood curriculum, teacher education and professional development, and recent developments during a time of recession in New Zealand. Some recommendations for early childhood education, based on the New Zealand experience, are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article identifies contemporary issues for educators regarding the integration of new technologies in the early childhood education centre, through critical analysis of discourse associated with the integration of new technologies in early childhood services in Aotearoa/New Zealand. A culture of critique is revealed as an early childhood curriculum objective in Aotearoa/New Zealand, supported by the Ministry of Education. However, engaging in such critique reveals tensions between expectations regarding educators and the vested interests of policy-makers and technology industries. The characterisation of the educator as technologically deficient marginalises opportunities for educators to critically consider the role of technology in society. This paper argues for a problematisation of negative characterisations of educators in order to promote meaningful critique that is articulated as a requisite of effective integration of technology in early childhood curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research indicates that children develop the emergent knowledge and skills that lead to formal literacies in their homes and early childhood settings long before school entry. The research evidence is clear that emergent literacy needs to be actively encouraged in the early years, if children are to have optimum chances of learning to read at school. In New Zealand, there are only a few studies of how literacy is promoted and practised in early childhood settings. This paper examines how 107 teachers in a range of early childhood settings believe that they promote literacy and their reflections on the ways in which Te Whãriki (the national curriculum) influences that practice. The implications for promoting literacy in early childhood settings are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this qualitative study, we report how Supervisors of Training, educational supervisors overseeing the learning of anaesthesia trainees, experience their role in practice. Using purposive sampling, we interviewed Supervisors of Training from across Australia and New Zealand. The interviews began by asking 'what do you see as your role as a Supervisor of Training?' then explored the response in detail. Following the technique of thematic analysis, inductive analysis occurred as data were collected until we generated a thematic structure sufficient to address our research question after 19 interviews. In the first three of the four identified themes, Supervisors of Training perceived themselves as the fulcrum of the learning environment, 'the something in between'. These three themes were: guiding and assessing trainees; identifying, supporting, and adjudicating trainee underperformance; and mediating trainees' relationship with the hospital. Participants perceived themselves as a broker between trainees, their colleagues, their hospital, the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists and the community to varying degrees at different times. Negotiating these competing responsibilities required Supervisors of Training to manage multiple different relationships and entailed significant emotional work. Our fourth theme, scarcity, described the imbalance between these demands and the time and resources available. The complexity of the Supervisor of Training role and the tensions between these competing demands is underappreciated. Our findings would support strategies to mitigate the administrative load and share the decisionmaking burden of the role and to enhance the capability of Supervisors of Training by requiring formal training for the role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sociocultural approach to emergent literacy and growing concerns over the de-emphasis on literacy of the New Zealand early childhood education curriculum Te Whāriki call for locally situated emergent literacy programmes co-constructed by teachers, parents and children. While teachers’ approach to emergent literacy takes centre stage in research, little is known about approach of parents and whether and to what extent it is in tune with the national curriculum framework. Adopting deductive qualitative analysis, this study examines beliefs and practice about their child’s emergent literacy of 25 parents from New Zealand public kindergartens against the learning outcomes of emergent literacy proclaimed in Te Whāriki. The findings confirm general compatibility between parents’ approach to emergent literacy and that of Te Whāriki. Parents in this study recognize and respond to the importance of the preliteracy skills (e.g. name writing) for school readiness, which concretizes, operationalizes and localizes the generally, loosely and vaguely defined Te Whāriki learning outcomes. The findings support the practicality of the co-construction of local emergent literacy programmes by teachers and parents in chartered early childhood education services in New Zealand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the perspective of a third-year student nurse about to graduate in New Zealand, this article discusses the complexities of teaching and learning the concept of cultural safety for educators and student nurses. The background of the implementation of cultural safety content into New Zealand nursing curriculum is briefly discussed, and the evolution of cultural safety and its diverse meanings that has led to some confusion among student nurses. How is cultural safety taught and what are the surrounding barriers? Also, where does the student nurse fit into this process? Recommendations are then made to improve the teaching of cultural safety in the New Zealand nursing curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]