L to R: Katie Bruffy, Sue Palfreyman
Tim Friedlander
It was a bittersweet farewell for Unitec’s current and past graduates and lecturers at a farewell to mark the end of the programme last week. The attendees shared memories of how the course was first established, and of the people they had first studied with and then worked with along the way.
Head of School, Katie Bruffy said the evening was a celebration of the culmination of an extraordinary journey and the people who have been part of it over the past 24 years. “The impact of the osteo programme will continue to influence Aotearoa’s health system for the foreseeable future, Unitec is grateful to have been part of the journey.
L to R: 3 Rokosiga Morrison; Jesse Mason; Saeideh Aminian; Cynthia Almeida; Sue Palfreyman; Ronnie Matafeo; Matiu Taingahue; Rob Moran
“The event to mark the end of Unitec’s osteopathy programme was inevitably bittersweet,” says Sue Palfreyman, Academic Programme Manager.
“We reflected on what we’ve achieved in more than twenty years of osteopathic education and the significant contribution that the programme has made to osteopathic healthcare in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Perhaps the most notable theme was how Unitec has provided opportunity – from graduates: preparation for working as an osteopath; from patients: being supported to keep doing what they love; and from staff: a sense of gratitude for the professional development and experience which have opened other, sometime unexpected, career pathways.
Special thanks go to Katie Bruffy for her relentless support through the teach-out, and for putting together this opportunity to mark the end of the programme.”
I spent many hours with Oesto students and thought the programme was outstandingly professional. It was an example of how all programmes should run. I still do not understand why we stopped this programme – where did we go wrong? Thank you to all the many great people who made this programme a great success. It will forever remain one of the most outstanding programmes Unitec taught.
A big shout out to Judy Nicholson. 25 years ago I was head of school of civil and environmental engineering and had a room next door to Judy. She was a tireless worker and innovator for health science.
A real shame to see this programme close