I am off to Brisbane tomorrow for nearly a week, so you probably won't hear too much from me for the next few days.New PhD supervisor
There are two reasons for going. One of them is to meet my new PhD supervisor. I have been floating around in limbo for the last couple of months whilst I have been looking for a new supervisor. So I am very excited to be meeting her and re-focusing on my PhD and getting it finished.
Aged Care, Queensland
The second reason I am going to Brisbane is to present a session on e-mentoring at a workshop hosted by Aged Care, Queensland. The workshop is focusing on how new entrants to the aged care sector can be supported by mentoring. My session will be very generic, looking at e-mentoring both from a one-to-one view and also from a community, social networking angle.
Getting out of midwifery
One of the reasons I choose to look at e-mentoring for my PhD was because it is a topic that can be related to any profession in health care. So I am really looking forward to meeting people who work in a very different area of health to midwifery.
Having said that, I am quite positive that we will have the same generic recruitment and retention problems, and will be able to have very useful discussions about professional development and life-long learning.
On a personal level
I am really looking forward to getting away from the cold, damp weather we're having in Dunedin. I am feeling very drained by the cold and cough I have had for over a week now. So I am hoping that a change of scene and focus as well as the Queensland warmth will help re-energize me, ready for Spring.
The other thing that will re-energize me is meeting my fellow PhD students working at the Centre for Online Health at the Royal Brisbane Children's Hospital. I know I am a great exponent of online relationships, communication and learning. But I must admit I always get an extra special buzz when I meet my fellow colleagues face-to-face.
Image: 'Freedom's on the Wallaby' monkeyc.net
www.flickr.com/photos/73584213@N00/118675592
1 comment:
Have a great trip. Hope it is productive but have a lot of fun as well.
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