Our Team
Both of our Connect Communications Directors have a background in General Practice and medical education.
They share extensive experience in teaching communication skills to various groups, including medical students, graduate programs, and experienced clinicians.
“Our strengths as teachers come from our wide-ranging experience in medical communication, coupled with excellent teamwork and a dynamic, interactive style.”
Directors
Dr Fiona Moir
MBChB, MRCGP, PhD
Fiona Moir, trained at Sheffield University in the UK and has worked as a GP both there and in New Zealand.
She is a Director of Connect Communications and a Senior Lecturer at The University of Auckland’s Department of General Practice.
Fiona leads the Health and Wellbeing curriculum and specialises in communication skills.
With over 20 years of teaching experience (including co-authoring the CALM website), she focuses on wellbeing, stress management, burnout prevention, self-care, and communication skills.
…and if you are lucky you may even spot her doing some singing.
Dr Renske van den Brink
MBChB DipObs FPC FRNZCGP DipCouns MNZAC PGDipMindBody Healthcare
Dr Renske van den Brink graduated from Auckland Medical School in 1989 and has spent most of her medical career in General Practice.
She has previously taught communication skills and professional development skills to medical students at the University of Auckland, and now she works as a Director of Connect Communications and a counsellor and MindBody therapist in private practice.
Renske also supervises health professionals both in her private practice and as an Accredited Balint group leader and leader trainer.
She is an author in the collaborative book edited by Dr Brian Broom, “Transforming Clinical Practice using the MindBody Approach: A Radical Integration.”
…and in her weekends, she also finds time to supervise her bees as they make honey in her backyard!
Facilitators
Dr Suzanne Duff
MBChB, MRCPsych, FRANZCP, Certificate of Old Age Psychiatry
Suzanne graduated from Liverpool University in the UK in 1990, and moved to New Zealand in 1991. She then trained as a Psychiatrist, specialising in Old Age Psychiatry. She has held Consultant Psychiatrist positions at both Waitemata DHB and Northland DHB. She has also held the roles of Director of Advanced Training for New Zealand for the RANZCP Faculty of Old Age Psychiatry Training Programme, Psychiatry Registrar Training Facilitator for Waitemata DHB and sat on the RANZCP Vocational Registration Advice Committee. Currently she works as a contractor to Connect Communications and does Old Age Psychiatry locum work.
She joined the team at Connect Communications in 2017.
Dr Janet Frater
MNZM, MBChB, Dip Obs, FRNZCGP (Dist).
Janet managed her own mixed urban practice in Balmoral, Auckland for 40 years.
She developed her interest in communication skills while organising the Auckland GP seminar programme, visiting practices and preparing registrars for Fellowship.
For 25 years she had a role as a Medical Educator and worked with the General Practice Education Programme registrars.
In addition to being a distinguished Fellow of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners, Janet has also been a Primex examiner.
Janet has a special interest in Doctors’ Health and ran a mentoring programme for the Medical Council of New Zealand and continues to work as a mentor to date.
Dr Emma Merry
MBBS, FCICM, FAChPM, MClinEd
Emma Merry trained at St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical School in London, before moving to New Zealand in 1997. She is now dual-trained in Intensive Care Medicine and Palliative Medicine.
In 2016, she graduated with a research Master’s in Clinical Education from the University of Auckland, with a thesis examining motivation in clinical teachers.
Emma also works as a Palliative Medicine specialist at Hawkes Bay Fallen Soldiers Memorial Hospital and is a Clinical Education Supervisor for the University of Otago – Wellington School of Medicine.
She is also a Senior Medical Officer with Organ Donation New Zealand, which involves providing on-call support to clinicians.
Previously, she has been a Prevocational Educational Supervisor and been part of the Education Committee, Medical Council of New Zealand.
Dr Rebecca Mairs
MB ChB (Hons), FRANZCP, FRACP, DCH
Rebecca Mairs graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2004 and went on to train as a Paediatrician in the United Kingdom and in New Zealand.
She developed a strong interest in mental health and in 2017 obtained both paediatric and psychiatry fellowships with a certificate in child and adolescent psychiatry.
She also works as a Consultant at Starship Hospital in Child Consult Liaison and the Complex Pain Service and holds an academic position with the Department of Psychological Medicine.
She regularly teaches medical students, paediatric and psychiatry trainees and other allied health professionals.
Dr Kathleen Mistry
MBChB, Grad Dip Paeds, Grad Cert Palliative Care
Kathleen Mistry is a graduate from the University of Auckland.
Following more than a decade in various house officer and registrar roles around NZ, including as an ANZCA (Anaesthetic) trainee between 2004-2011, she began teaching Auckland Medical Students at the Clinical Skills Centre in 2016.
She has also taught Personal and Professional Skills to students, through the Department of Psychological Medicine.
In 2018 she took up the role of a Medical Education Fellow, and has been a facilitator with Connect Communications since 2019.
Dr Joanna Strom
MBChB, FRNZCGP, Grad Dip Clin Ed, Dip Paeds
Joanna graduated from the University of Auckland in 2010.
She worked as a house officer in the Auckland region for several years. Alongside one of her house officer roles, she took up the role of a Medical Education Fellow at Middlemore Hospital. This involved curriculum development, teaching, mentoring, and research into junior doctor stress, medical student health and wellbeing.
Since 2016, Joanna has taught Clinical Skills and Professional Development to medical students at the University of Auckland. She also works part-time as a General Practitioner and gained her Fellowship in 2017.
Dr Hamish Wilson
MB ChB MGP(Dist)(Otago) DipObst(Auck) MRNZCGP
Dr Hamish Wilson is a general practitioner and medical educator in Dunedin. He has taught at both undergraduate and postgraduate level for the Otago Medical School since 1996.
With Dr Wayne Cunningham, he co-authored Being a Doctor: Understanding Medical Practice (University of Otago Press, 2013), a textbook that addresses gaps between medical theory and the reality of clinical practice.
His current research focuses on how to help students learn about functional disorders with the aim of better recognition, engagement and patient empowerment.
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