On Friday 9th June, three students from Waitaki Girls’ High School – Kika Tangifolau, Sia Nukulasi and Lei Tefaiva were part of the first secondary school programme run by Te Whatu Ora Southern for Pasifika women who have an interest in working in the health sector in the future.

The programme started with the Waitaki Girls' High School students joining the Queens High School students in the whānau room to meet the Pasifika health professionals who would be taking them through the various departments. The students started in the Children's Ward, then it was on toMidwifery, then through Surgery and Oncology before taking part in a Clinical Simulation with a very life like mannequin. The students were all carefully prepared and briefed on their roles for the simulation by the team and then the mannequin went into a cardiac arrest, and then it was all go. It was very humbling to be a part of this exercise, as it became very apparent all of the different roles and responsibilities so many people have every hour of every day within our health system. 

We would like to thank all of the professionals who took time out of their very busy days to work with our students and a huge thank you to Kym Makanesi for all of her organisation to make this very inspiring day happen.