Upcoming Aotearoa New Zealand activities and events

The RACS Aotearoa New Zealand International Women's Day breakfast Zoom is back.

Join us on Friday 6 March, from 7 to 8am, as Dr Jane Strang chats with Dr Rachelle Love, an ENT Surgeon and Chair - Medical Council New Zealand

Register now (this is a free event).

Dr Rachelle Love

Dr Rachelle Love is of Ngāpuhi and Te Arawa descent, and practices as an ORL surgeon in Ōtautahi Christchurch. Dr Love was elected to the Chair of Te Kaunihera Rata o Aotearoa/New Zealand Medical Council in 2024, having been initially appointed to Council by the Minister of Health in 2020. She has previously held executive or committee roles across a number of organisations, and is currently a member of the Māori Health Advisory Group in RACS, as well as a cultural advisor to the ORL Training Board. She is a lecturer for the Māori and Indigenous Health Institute at the University of Otago.

Dr Love’s research interests are in Māori health, particularly cultural competency and cultural safety in surgical education, and in sleep surgery, where she is part of a multinational multidisciplinary research group.

Outside of clinical practice, she has two teenagers, two velcro dogs, six chickens and enjoys backcountry skiing and mountain biking.

Dr Jane Strang

Dr Jane Strang is a general surgeon specialising in general and colorectal surgery in Nelson.

Dr Strang has established laparoscopic colorectal surgery as a safe and effective way of treating colorectal problems that require surgery. She has also established ERAS (enhanced recovery after surgery), a pathway for enhancing the recovery of patients undergoing colorectal surgery.

Dr Strang has received the RACS Denys Sumner Award for excellence in clinical teaching and two other awards for outstanding services to the College.

She is a Trainee supervisor and RACS skills course instructor. She was the Aotearoa New Zealand representative for the Women in Surgery Committee from 2002 to 2020 and is the RACS Aotearoa New Zealand International Women's Day convener.

International Women's Day

International Women's Day is celebrated globally as a focal point in the women's rights movement. It was officially recognised by the United Nations in 1977 but first emerged from the activities of labour and universal female suffrage movements at the turn of the twentieth century.

Trainees and younger Fellows involved in advanced surgical academic research have the chance to have their hard mahi recognised.

This prestigious award, valued at $2,500, was established in 1962 and commemorates Sir Louis Barnett, a pioneer of research into hydatid disease and the first New Zealand president of RACS.

The 2025 event can be viewed here

2026 Louis Barnett Prize - entries are now open

Entries for the 2026 prize are open until Monday 6 April. If you wish to enter, or find out more information, visit the Louis Barnett Prize page.

Finalists for the 2026 prize will present their abstracts at a virtual event on Thursday 2 July 2026 before a winner is selected. Registrations to watch this event will open later this year. 

2027 Louis Barnett Prize

Entries will open in August 2026, and finalists will present in Dunedin during the Aotearoa New Zealand centenary celebrations. More details to come. 

For any questions regarding the Louis Barnett Prize, please send us an email.