Schofield Oration & Workshop
September 2018
Professor Adnan Hyder visited the VIFM from September 18-20, primarily as the Schofield Orator for 2018. He is the Senior Associate Dean for Research and Professor of Global Health, at the Milken Institute of Public Health, George Washington University, USA. His Oration titled ‘Injury Prevention and Public Health Research in the 21st Century’ focussed largely on the developing world, firstly de-bunking myths around current approaches, then posing challenges for future work to assist development in low and middle income countries (LMIC). His challenges to forensic medicine, injury prevention and public health more generally including moving beyond working briefly with LMIC then moving on without building in-country capacity; small interventions with no real potential to be taken to scale; and training professionals from LMICs without also working with trainees and alumni to build stronger institutions in their countries.
A national ‘Strategic Directions for Injury Prevention Workshop’ was held the following day to provide his reflections on the workshop proceedings and the opportunities posed by the upcoming development of a new National Injury Prevention Strategy. The workshop was jointly hosted by VIFM, the Monash Department of Forensic Medicine (DFM) and the Australasian Injury Prevention Network. It included speakers from the Commonwealth Department of Health, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Flinders University and the DFM and participants from all Australian States and Territories and New Zealand.
