Two deserving GPs awarded WONCA Fellowship

Congratulations to Professor Felicity Goodyear-Smith and Dr Jo Scott-Jones who have been awarded Fellowship of the World Organization of Family Doctors, or WONCA as the organisation is more commonly known as.

These Fellowships were awarded (virtually) to Prof Goodyear-Smith and Dr Scott-Jones at WONCA’s virtual 23rd World Conference of Family Doctors, and highlighted their outstanding contributions to the College, the discipline of general practice on a local and international scale.

College President Dr Sam Murton says, “Professor Goodyear-Smith and Dr Scott-Jones are two very deserving recipients of WONCA Fellowship. Their contributions to general practice span clinical, research and teaching, and they truly epitomise the characteristics of a GP. I am thrilled they have been internationally recognised for their achievements.”

About Professor Goodyear-Smith

Prof Goodyear-Smith obtained College Fellowship in 1998 and in 2016 was awarded Distinguished Fellowship of the College. 

She is a senior academic involved in teaching and research at the Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care in the School of Population Heath at The University of Auckland and is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the College’s peer-reviewed publication the Journal of Primary Health Care (JPHC). 

Prof Goodyear-Smith has also worked in the UK, and in Jamaica. Whilst in Jamaica, she spent time working as a police medical officer as well as in obstetrics & gynaecology and family planning. Her expertise has been recognised with Fellowship in the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine at The Royal College of Physicians. 

Prof Goodyear-Smith’s research interest areas include international primary health care, including cross-country comparisons in low- and middle-income countries, screening and intervention for mental health and risky lifestyle behaviours, immunisation, and co-design and Pacific methodologies. She has been very involved in WONCA, chairing their Working Party on Research, and has co-edited three books (International Perspectives on Primary Care Research, How to do Primary Care Research, and How to do Primary Care Educational Research) on WONCA’s behalf. 

About Dr Scott-Jones

Dr Scott-Jones is medical director for Pinnacle Midlands Health Network and has a GP practice in Ōpōtiki which has served the local community since 1992 and works as a GP across the Midlands region (which covers Gisborne, Taranaki, Rotorua, Taupō -Turangi, Thames-Coromandel and the Waikato).

Dr Scott-Jones obtained College Fellowship in 1999, and Fellowship of the Division of Rural Hospital Medicine in 2003. He was awarded the College’s Distinguished Service medal in 2007.

On top of his clinical work, Dr Scott-Jones has continually taken on teaching and leadership roles to bring people together from different parts of the health sector to plan, discuss and implement initiatives that will ultimately improve the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders. 

One of the many successful initiatives developed and implemented by Dr Scott-Jones is ‘Rural Fest’. For the past six years, this annual cross-party event has brought together organisations in the Rural Health Alliance Aotearoa New Zealand (RHAANZ) to discuss issues around health and wellbeing in rural communities. These issues are taken to Parliament where meetings are held with party caucus and individual politicians to highlight these issues of importance.

He is an active contributor not only to the College and to WONCA’s Rural Health Working Group, but to other membership organisations including the Institute of Directors, the New Zealand Medical Association, and the New Zealand Rural General Practice Network. This drive to pursue high standards of care in the health system aligns with WONCA’s mission of improving the quality of life for the peoples of the world.

The Mission of WONCA is to improve the quality of life of the peoples of the world through defining and promoting its values, including respect for universal human rights, and including gender equity, and by fostering high standards of care in general practice/family medicine. Read more about the work of WONCA.