Pauline Dawson
paulinedawsonnz.bsky.social
Pauline Dawson
@paulinedawsonnz.bsky.social
Midwife, Snr Lecturer, Doctor but not that kind
Toitū Te Tiriti, Perinatal health inequity, data monkey, social justice https://www.otago.ac.nz/obstetrics-gynaecology-womens-health/people/profile?id=1354 'The patriarchy won't smash itself'
Reposted by Pauline Dawson
This is bonkers, neoliberalism destroying our healthcare system on purpose.

www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3609...
Hospitals asked to save $510 million despite $538 million going unspent
The "underspend" was due in part to unfilled vacancies and the fact Health NZ has yet to settle collective contract disputes.
www.stuff.co.nz
December 20, 2025 at 5:20 AM
Reposted by Pauline Dawson
Hospitals asked to save $510 millions despite $538 million going unspent
Hospitals asked to save $510 millions despite $538 million going unspent
The "underspend" was due in part to unfilled vacancies and the fact Health NZ has yet to settle collective contract disputes.
www.rnz.co.nz
December 19, 2025 at 6:40 AM
Reposted by Pauline Dawson
Sample slides that convey what I believe I am alas obliged to call the Teaching Philosophy behind the course.
December 11, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Reposted by Pauline Dawson
Academia is a daily gauntlet of criticism, rejection, & excessive workload demand.

It's normal to feel like a failure when the main feedback is negative. And you're constantly doing a rushed job.

That's why it's critical to have supportive managers. Alas, bullying & neglect are more common.
Academia has this way of making you feel utterly unsuccessful even when by any reasonable standard you are doing just fine.
December 5, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Reposted by Pauline Dawson
The Paediatric Society of NZ - representing the clinical field most relevant here - have released maybe the strongest statement of all the medical bodies: “puberty blockers are an established, safe, reversible, and
life-saving treatment option”
PSNZ responds to government announcement on puberty blockers
www.paediatrics.org.nz
December 3, 2025 at 1:21 AM
Reposted by Pauline Dawson
Here is a godawful joke in chart form to ruin your Christmas season 🤪🎄
December 2, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Reposted by Pauline Dawson
This year’s BMJ appeal is for MSF, supporting their work in Gaza and more than 75 other countries.

The BMJ hears how ongoing attacks, trickling aid, and flooding mean that Gaza and its doctors are in for a tough winter
#BMJAppeal
www.bmj.com/content/391/...
December 2, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Reposted by Pauline Dawson
A useful article (and thread of key points if you don't have time fo rthe paper itself).
Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia:
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...

We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n
December 1, 2025 at 6:25 PM
In conversation, someone reminded me of this article today. Was worth a re-visit www.bmj.com/content/319/...
Seven alternatives to evidence based medicine
Clinical decisions should, as far as possible, be evidence based. So runs the current clinical dogma. 1 2 We are urged to lump all the relevant randomised controlled trials into one giant meta-analysi...
www.bmj.com
December 2, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Reposted by Pauline Dawson
Simeon Brown has appointed no Māori, no Pasifika, and nobody but doctors to Health Workforce Committee despite it being "to ensure that New Zealand has a health workforce that is able to meet the needs of individuals, whānau, and communities now and in the future". #nzpol

tinyurl.com/3tbjmz5s
New Health Workforce Committee members named - Inside Government NZ
Health Minister, Simeon Brown, has announced appointments to the Health Workforce Committee, with Dr David Gow appointed Chair. Dr Gow is joined by new members Dr Jeremy Dryden, Dr Ruth Large, and Dr ...
insidegovernment.co.nz
December 2, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Reposted by Pauline Dawson
No nurses have been included in the health ministry’s primary care advisory group. Multiple nurse leaders have written to the minister expressing concern, but have received no reply. Why is the experience of nurses so rarely acknowledged?
newsroom.co.nz/2025/12/01/t...
The silence of the nurses
From Auckland University - Opinion: No nurses have been included in the health ministry's primary care advisory group. Why is the experience of nurses so rarely acknowledged?
newsroom.co.nz
November 30, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Reposted by Pauline Dawson
Online survey research is screwed. LLM-enabled agents can take surveys just like humans.

Here's a video I made where the Comet browser agent takes a simple survey and gets around nearly all my bot detection checks.

The crisis is here already...more in this 🧵

www.youtube.com/watch?v=05Je...
Comet browser fills out a survey with bot detection questions
YouTube video by John Helveston
www.youtube.com
November 30, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Reposted by Pauline Dawson
WONDERFUL news out of Australia!

"Australia is on course to meet a target of eliminating cervical cancer by 2035, which, if achieved, will make it the first country to do so."

www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clini...
newsGP - Australia set for world-first cervical cancer elimination
Vaccination programs have played a key role, and GPs remain ‘instrumental’ in boosting screening rates to reach the 2035 target.
www1.racgp.org.au
November 29, 2025 at 1:44 AM
Reposted by Pauline Dawson
In some good news, today PATHA has finally been able to release the 2025 Guidelines for Gender Affirming Care in Aotearoa New Zealand. You can read them here: patha.nz/resources-an...
Clinical Guidelines | Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa Inc. (PATHA)
patha.nz
November 28, 2025 at 5:21 AM
Reposted by Pauline Dawson
"To the medical community, we urge all our colleagues to resist the move toward authoritarianism over our work"

I'm reminded of this statement, from the AMA Code of Medical Ethics 2002-03: "In exceptional circumstances of unjust laws, ethical responsibilities should supersede legal obligations."
Civic Obligations in Medicine: Does "Professional" Civil Disobedience Tear, or Repair, the Basic Fabric of Society?
Professional civil disobedience can have benefits and risks to both medical professionals and patients.
journalofethics.ama-assn.org
November 27, 2025 at 4:52 AM
I have been thinking about difficult aspects of academia a lot. We should be having some hard conversations - there are plenty of topics. This is one: Academic Bullying pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Academic bullying in science and medicine: the need for reform
An official website of the United States government
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
November 26, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Reposted by Pauline Dawson
Is your academic org doing something cool virtually to support ECRs? Would love to hear who's doing this - I want to make sure my dues and membership belong to spaces I'm morally aligned with. Please send recs or comment on initiatives youd want to see! #AcademicSky
November 25, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Care closer to home is great. How this actually pans out will be interesting. Disclaimer: I have been involved in some of the maternity/perinatal aspects
📢 It wants to shift more services out of Dunedin and Invercargill hospitals and into Queenstown, Wānaka, and Cromwell.
Plan to overhaul Otago and Queenstown healthcare announced
www.rnz.co.nz
November 25, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Back in the datalab today after a long break. Really nice change of pace
a blurred image of ducks swimming in a stream
Alt: a blurred image of ducks swimming in a stream
media.tenor.com
November 20, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Reposted by Pauline Dawson
If they can ban access to healthcare like puberty blockers for one group of people, they can do this with any healthcare for their next target. They will ban abortion again given the chance and they will come after contraception after that. The anti-choice movement is our govt right now. #nzpol
November 19, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Reposted by Pauline Dawson
Very proud to have been able to contribute to this response from the NZNO College of Child and Youth Nurses to the puberty blocker ban. I'm glad our union and college have our back and are willing to stand up to this transphobic government.

www.nzno.org.nz/about_us/med...
Puberty blocker ban will hurt young people: Child and Youth nurses
The decision to ban new prescriptions for puberty blockers will hurt young people, the NZNO College of Child and Youth Nurses (CCYN) Tapuhitia Ngā Mokopuna Mō Apōpō says. Minister of Health Simeon Br...
www.nzno.org.nz
November 20, 2025 at 3:21 AM
Reposted by Pauline Dawson
Here's another nursing led response to the puberty blocker ban by this transphobic government. Is there a thread showing all the professional bodies pushing back against this decision?

kaitiaki.org.nz/article/nzno...
NZNO rainbow, child health nurses slams ‘devastating’ ban on puberty-blockers – Kaitiaki Nursing New Zealand
kaitiaki.org.nz
November 20, 2025 at 5:05 AM