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James is passionate about the health and wellbeing of children, and this was one of the main reasons he was drawn to train in Ear, Nose, and Throat surgery. New Zealand has an unusually structured paediatric healthcare system as a great majority of the country’s tertiary paediatric care is provided by Starship Children’s Hospital in Auckland. This is the only hospital with a paediatric intensive care unit in New Zealand. There is a profound national shortage of paediatric airway surgeons.
Following a competitive application process, he was successful in obtaining a fellowship position at the prestigious Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, which began in October, 2023. This fellowship offers outstanding exposure to all aspects of paediatric ORL, and airway reconstructive surgery in particular. Following this, he will complete a second fellowship in the University of Sydney Dr Liang Voice Program. This is a one-year program designed to prepare existing ORL surgeons for a subspecialty career in laryngology.
After completing both fellowships, he will return to Auckland and endeavour to help build an active academic centre in paediatric Otolaryngology at Starship Children’s Hospital. He believes that this department has the potential to make a significant contribution to this field. The national referral pattern ensures exposure to complex diseases in children from all New Zealand. There is considerable inequity in prevalence and outcomes for Maori and Pasifika children with ORL conditions, and this issue requires significant research input to identify the causes and rectify them. He is of Maori descent and has a fundamental commitment to this area of research.