Voices from the Pacific: International Women’s Day event On Monday 8 March 2021, in honour of International Women’s Day, medical professionals from around the world gathered for the ‘Voices from the Pacific’ forum, a webinar focused on the challenges, opportunities and experiences of women working and training as surgeons, anaesthetists and perioperative nurses across the AsiaPacific region. The event was presented by Miss Annette Holian, Chair of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) Global Health Committee, and Dr Rachna Ram, a general surgeon from Fiji who specialises in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, currently undertaking her PhD in Melbourne.
They hosted a panel that included Dr Fane Lord, an ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeon from Fiji, Dr Esther Apuahe, a neurosurgeon from Papua New Guinea (PNG), Nerrie Raddie a perioperative nurse from the Solomon Islands, and Dr Sepi Lopati, an ENT surgeon from Tonga. The event began with an address from Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete, Minister for Health and Medical Services in Fiji, who is himself a general surgeon. Dr Esther Apuahe, the first female surgeon in PNG and a mother of three, talked about her challenges in being accepted by her male colleagues and patients, especially in the provinces.
She hopes that her experiences made it easier for future generations of female surgeons, of whom there are now seven, and was especially proud that four of these women are now undertaking subspecialty training. Dr Sepi Lopati is currently in Melbourne studying her Master of Surgery – Research degree on the prevalence of ear disease in primary school students in Tonga. As a mother to two young children while training, she found it difficult to find the appropriate training to suit her life. She found the lack of outside connections hard as she couldn’t travel for training and wanted help finding a pathway. Dr Lopati explained that women entering the surgical field
