She is as humble as they come and it took a fair amount of coaxing to get even the facts regarding her latest achievement, but for Pihanga Health Centre pharmacist Leanne Te Karu, there is certainly something worth celebrating.
Two weeks ago the Pharmaceutical Society of New Zealand honoured Leanne in recognition of her significant and outstanding contribution to services to Maori in pharmacy when she was awarded the Maori Pharmacist Award at the Pharmacy Awards and Pharmaceutical Society Symposium held at Auckland's Langham Hotel.
Leanne, who was raised in Turangi but now lives in Taupo, is a familiar face at Turangi's Pihanga Health Centre where she runs a weekly clinic specialising in patients suffering with gout.
Pihanga Health colleague Dr Rene Lenoir says Leanne's work at the clinic is ``awesome'' and he adds she is extremely modest about her latest achievement.
``She got this award two weeks ago and I think it's way bigger than she has explained it to me,'' he says.
Leanne is a clinical pharmacist with experience in both community and hospital pharmacy. She is also a member of the Pharmacy Council of New Zealand.
At the award ceremony, mention was made of some of Leanne's career highlights to date, and there is certainly no shortage of those.
``They talked about a bunch of stuff, in fact it was embarrassing because it went on and on,'' she says.
Leanne was recognised for her long history of advocating for the role of pharmacists in abolishing health disparities; her voluntary role in founding the Maori Pharmacists' Association and her decision to step down from the role of association president two months ago after nine years at the helm, during which membership grew from six to 110.
Leanne's long and varied history within the pharmacy profession was also mentioned, from her early career days as a hospital pharmacist in the Waikato to community pharmacy roles in both Taupo and Turangi.
``They spoke about my role in the development of cultural competence standards for the pharmacy profession which now requires all pharmacists to demonstrate a specific commitment to Hauora Maori,'' she says.
``They also talked about my role in the universities, around curriculum development and also my ministerial appointment to the Pharmacy Council of New Zealand which took place last year,'' she says.
While she may only get down to Pihanga Health Centre once a week, she's far from taking it easy. For six years Leanne, together with a Maori doctor, has been delivering a programme in marae across the country which aims to provide optimisation of medicines.
Add to that a thesis she wrote which looks at the treatment of gout before joint symptoms occur, which has gained political traction, her position as a Senior Research Fellow at Christchurch School of Medicine and the projects she has been involved with through the Maori Indigenous Health Institute in terms of addressing health inequities and it's no surprise she is this year's award winner.
But perhaps the work she talks most freely about is that of her role at Pihanga Health Centre, working with gout patients.
At her clinic she aims to educate patients that gout is an entirely preventable disease and is much more than a joint condition.
``Maori have one of the highest prevalences of gout in the world and there is an unhealthy fixation on food intake by health professionals,'' says Leanne.
Career highlights aside, how did it feel to win the award?
``Well it was one of those significant circle moments for me when you get to reflect on a journey that has required significant input and presented many challenges. When I first committed to start a Maori Pharmacists Association I was met by some strong negativity from the pharmacy profession. ``The award from one of the largest stakeholders in the profession was in true contrast to this and therefore very pleasing and in fact somewhat overwhelming,'' she says.
Top Award for Pharmacist
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