NORTHWARD HO!: Experience in Papua New Guinea and the Development of Academic Public Health and General Practice in Australia

Abstract

Ten of the initial post-1975 appointees to chairs of public health and/or general practice in Australian and New Zealand universities had significant experience in Papua New Guinea. They had held often combined positions that covered academic, clinical, public health, and research arenas, most being retained when they returned to Australia and New Zealand. Their experiences in the former Territory of Papua and New Guinea, now known as Papua New Guinea, are reviewed here, and how each translated that experience in the development of departments in Australian medical schools after 1975 is identified. A major finding of this exploration is the ready admission of the study cohort as to how their New Guinea experience changed most of their professional lives from one with an intended clinical focus to one in which the importance of public health and general practice became paramount.