Or, say, if you needed oral cancer surgery, is it a bonus if the person operating on your mouth has had experience in projects and initiatives which give effect to Te Tiriti principles?
How about if you had to go under the knife for facial trauma - does it ease your anxiety knowing that the consultant surgeon is steeped in the application of Mātauranga Māori and Kaupapa Māori approaches, particularly as they apply in healthcare settings?
Southern Health thinks the answer is yes to all the above.
This week an advertisement on their careers website for a consultant oral maxillofacial surgeon at Dunedin Hospital stated that competency in te ao Māori, tikanga, and te reo Māori was a requirement. Or at the very least “a commitment to starting your journey and taking ownership of your learning and growth.”
As well, they asked for “Experience in projects / initiatives which give effect to Te Tiriti principals (sic) and frameworks, and the application of Mātauranga Māori and Kaupapa Māori approaches, particularly as they apply in healthcare settings.”
Apart from spelling principles incorrectly, Southern Health clearly thinks they know what the principles of the Treaty are, even though this is a topic hotly debated thanks to Act’s Treaty Principles Bill.
This position commands a salary of between $185,380 and $267,980. If that’s not tempting enough, perhaps the knowledge that the successful applicant will be able to bring “the real you on board” will winkle out shy prospects. In particular they welcome applications from “our diverse Māori, Pacific, disabled, and rainbow communities.”
The ad states skills are gained in many areas of life, not just formal employment. So if “you can demonstrate the skills listed in the ad, but the experience was gained through whānau life, community or mahi aroha (volunteering) we encourage you to apply and share your story with us in your cover letter.”
Frankly this is perplexing. Does that mean applicants might not be qualified but have indulged in a spot of facial surgery on the whanau as a hobby? Can the successful applicant be an unqualified surgeon who learned on the job, perhaps indulging in a spot of amateur dentistry on the whanau? Some of these medical professionals specialise in facial cosmetic surgery. Who needs qualifications for that? Seems Southern Health will take applications from anyone who has volunteered at an illicit backyard surgical outfit. Do they even exist? Is that what Southern Health is referring to?
Their ad also raises questions such as whether this is policy across all health districts and what that might mean for other medical positions. Could a farm worker who has helped deliver lambs or birth calves now be eligible for the position of hospital midwife? No, that’s not fair. That’s what people mean when they talk about the soft bigotry of low expectations. A farm worker with those skills plus knowledge of te ao Māori, tikanga, and te reo Māori Is worthy of the title of obstetrician, surely.
It’s also reassuring to know that Southern Health can be so specific about the criterion for employing a consultant oral maxillofacial surgeon. Clearly this indicates there is no shortage of these specialists, Data is sketchy but as of 2017-18 New Zealand had 39 practicing oral and maxillofacial surgeons. One wonders if each one fulfils these cultural criteria.
These questions were put to Health NZ who got the Head of National People Services Elizabeth Jeffs to reply with an acknowledgement that they were altering their job ad templates as a result of feedback. “No harm or offence was intended.”
The Minister of Health, Simeon Brown, was more explicit. He wrote that health appointments should be made solely on merit “and this advert is outside my expectations. Healthcare must be delivered on the basis of need. Not race.”
Someone tell the public service.
The website now states that the position is filled. But you can view it here.
https://archive.is/2025.02.12-015937/https://careers.southernhealth.nz/job/Consultant-Oral-Maxillofacial-Surgeon/936092910/
The internet is forever.
Yvonne van Dongen is a journalist, travel writer, playwright and non-fiction author. This article was first published HERE
Southern Health thinks the answer is yes to all the above.
This week an advertisement on their careers website for a consultant oral maxillofacial surgeon at Dunedin Hospital stated that competency in te ao Māori, tikanga, and te reo Māori was a requirement. Or at the very least “a commitment to starting your journey and taking ownership of your learning and growth.”
As well, they asked for “Experience in projects / initiatives which give effect to Te Tiriti principals (sic) and frameworks, and the application of Mātauranga Māori and Kaupapa Māori approaches, particularly as they apply in healthcare settings.”
Apart from spelling principles incorrectly, Southern Health clearly thinks they know what the principles of the Treaty are, even though this is a topic hotly debated thanks to Act’s Treaty Principles Bill.
This position commands a salary of between $185,380 and $267,980. If that’s not tempting enough, perhaps the knowledge that the successful applicant will be able to bring “the real you on board” will winkle out shy prospects. In particular they welcome applications from “our diverse Māori, Pacific, disabled, and rainbow communities.”
The ad states skills are gained in many areas of life, not just formal employment. So if “you can demonstrate the skills listed in the ad, but the experience was gained through whānau life, community or mahi aroha (volunteering) we encourage you to apply and share your story with us in your cover letter.”
Frankly this is perplexing. Does that mean applicants might not be qualified but have indulged in a spot of facial surgery on the whanau as a hobby? Can the successful applicant be an unqualified surgeon who learned on the job, perhaps indulging in a spot of amateur dentistry on the whanau? Some of these medical professionals specialise in facial cosmetic surgery. Who needs qualifications for that? Seems Southern Health will take applications from anyone who has volunteered at an illicit backyard surgical outfit. Do they even exist? Is that what Southern Health is referring to?
Their ad also raises questions such as whether this is policy across all health districts and what that might mean for other medical positions. Could a farm worker who has helped deliver lambs or birth calves now be eligible for the position of hospital midwife? No, that’s not fair. That’s what people mean when they talk about the soft bigotry of low expectations. A farm worker with those skills plus knowledge of te ao Māori, tikanga, and te reo Māori Is worthy of the title of obstetrician, surely.
It’s also reassuring to know that Southern Health can be so specific about the criterion for employing a consultant oral maxillofacial surgeon. Clearly this indicates there is no shortage of these specialists, Data is sketchy but as of 2017-18 New Zealand had 39 practicing oral and maxillofacial surgeons. One wonders if each one fulfils these cultural criteria.
These questions were put to Health NZ who got the Head of National People Services Elizabeth Jeffs to reply with an acknowledgement that they were altering their job ad templates as a result of feedback. “No harm or offence was intended.”
The Minister of Health, Simeon Brown, was more explicit. He wrote that health appointments should be made solely on merit “and this advert is outside my expectations. Healthcare must be delivered on the basis of need. Not race.”
Someone tell the public service.
The website now states that the position is filled. But you can view it here.
https://archive.is/2025.02.12-015937/https://careers.southernhealth.nz/job/Consultant-Oral-Maxillofacial-Surgeon/936092910/
The internet is forever.
Yvonne van Dongen is a journalist, travel writer, playwright and non-fiction author. This article was first published HERE
11 comments:
Sounds like the ad. was written with a specific person in mind - who was quickly recruited. To hope his/her the qualifications are real and relevant .
If systems are so casual and disconnected as to allow release of such a document, the public must seriously doubt the systems which check and control surgical ability and performance and patirnt outcome. The existance of such a document even when withdrawn clearly indicates empolyer bias. Little wonder so many able surgeons depart NZ. Very obvious cancellation risk prevents their comment but pro maori twaddle is anathema to very many, as to very many NZers.
The ad as written made the job unfillable.
In point of fact ALL ads that read like this (and there are so, so many across SEEK etc) are IMO illegal under our legislations.....
A large proportion of the Maxfax surgeons in NZ hail from SA originally.....other than those that now are of a younger generation but they too will not fall into those categories.....
I laughed out loud about the 'disabled' bit because albeit the rest of the ad was pure idiocy, that was the icing on the absurdity cake and very much like hiring a one armed paper hanger......because they wanted the real 'you'....
The Public Service is giving the government the middle finger and until people like Simeon Brown starts chopping fingers of these people they will continue to do so......(firing people is now a required).
Hopefully however should some fingers be chopped off the microsurgery specialist putting them back will be doggy deep in the tikanga of matauranga maori rongoa from way back to know exactly what they/them are doing..............................
.........need I say more?
Please tell me this is a joke. They will struggle to fill these spots. Didn't maori rub huhu grubs on sore teeth, well those of them that lived past 30 yo?
Dear oh dear. I still can't figure out why the health system is in such a state.....
If the surgeon is woke then I will not let him or her operate.on me. Let's hope that Air Aotearoa does not have the same requirements for pilots.
Who would have thought such a specialist area of surgery would require an understanding of stone age belief systems of just one minority cohort of the population in a catchment area where they are even less prevalent? And wouldn't Hobson be impressed that his three article Treaty is so pivotal to the supply of healthcare services in the 21st century? Honestly, where to do they find the people who write such tosh, who authorises it, and why are they still employed if they can't see the issue with the nonsense they expound?
Was this ad placed offshore looking for the best candidate ??
These people writing and specifying are the worst of the worst so called public servants.
I for one would prefer my surgeon not to be “disabled”
What the hell is going on here??
I learned to spell in standard 4 , the different principles / principals by saying the principal is my friend./pal.
The person who writes the advert. is as uneducated as the advert . itself. This BEI job positioning criteria is as contemptible as nepotism which was considered an evil in the past.
What else do you expect from Dunedin ?
The University appoints a vice chancellor with nothing more than a degree in history.
Then the med school appoints a Dean qualified in psychology.
Psychology is related to medicine in the same way taxidermy is related to vet science. And she's a Maori, and couldn't you guess her specialty is how Maori are disadvantaged in our health system.
And now the Hospital advertises for a surgeon so versed in all things Maori they must think surgeons all grow up on a marae !
The Salem witch trials had nothing on this country. This is just pure madness !
Pretty sure the surgeon who performed my close friends knee replacement was a plumber before he emigrated from South Africa. I'm not disrespecting plumbers either having also required the services of one recently. If the two of them were in the same room, I doubt anyone would have been able to tell the difference. But we certainly got better value for money with the plumber than the surgeon - neither of whom mentioned some
irrelevant outdated and half-baked historical legal document.
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