AUSTRALIAN academic Professor Barry McGrath is honoured to serve on the Fiji National University (FNU) Council.
Professor McGrath who was recently in the country to attend the FNU Council meeting held in Nadi believes with a wide range of skills and experience, he will be able to contribute positively as a member of the Fiji National University (FNU) Council.
“I feel honoured to have been invited to join the FNU Council,” Professor McGrath said.
The senior academic said having worked in the region for some time, the opportunity to serve on the FNU Council came at an opportune time.
“I have always considered that Australia needed to take a greater interest in collaborating with Pacific nations and Asia, and this was enriched by my own experiences as a young doctor in New Guinea and Singapore and as a supervisor of PhD and post-doctoral students from Japan and China,” Prof McGrath said.
“Over recent years, I have seen the need to better integrate migrant doctors into the Australian Healthcare System and worked to this effect as Chair of the clinical examinations panel for the Australian Medical Council (AMC).
“I had been introduced to medical education in Fiji in the 1990s when I conducted a review of the Masters of Medicine program at Fiji School of Medicine for USP.”
Reflecting on the composition of the FNU Council, Prof McGrath said there was an excellent range of expertise and experience and the Council dynamics appear to be very much attuned towards systemic growth and excellence of the university.
Prof McGrath MBBS (Hons) 1969 University of Sydney, trained as a Physician in nephrology and general medicine (FRACP 1975), and obtained Doctorate of Medicine by thesis (‘Hypertension in Haemodialysis Patients’ University of Sydney) in 1978 from studies in Sydney and Oxford UK.
