Tonga’s new Health Minister was appointed as an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Sydney earlier this year.
She was appointed an Adjunct Associate Professor University of Sydney in September this year.
In May she was apppointed an Honorary Associate in the adjunct faculty in Health at the University of Technology in Sydney, a position UTS described as being for “eminent professionals.”
Dr Tu’ipulotu’s career has been a mixture of acacademic and hands-on ever since she trained as a student nurse in Australia
As Kaniva news reported in 2013, Dr Tu’ipulotu was the first Tongan to graduate with a doctorate in nursing from the University of Sydney’s Nursing School.
She wrote her doctoral thesis on standards for nursing practice in Tonga.
She received an Australian Development Scholarship to complete her doctorate through the University of Sydney.
She was Matron and Director of Nursing at Vaiola Hospital from 2012-2014.
She was responsible for the majority of the country’s nurses who work in four hospitals on Tongatapu, Vava’u, Eua, Haapai and Niua.
In 2015 she chaired the South Pacific Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officers conference in Tonga which drew 30 delegates from 12 countries.
Last year she joined Minister for Health Dr Saia Piukala in a visit to Sydney to launch the kingdom’s policy on non-communicable diseases.
A former head girl at Tonga High School, Dr Tu’ipulotu was Acting Principal of Queen Salote School of Nursing in Tonga. She has been a visiting senior scholar at the school since 2015.
She has written about the role of nurses in disaster management in the Asia Pacific and conducted research on nurses’ work and practice in Tonga.
The main points
- Tonga’s new Health Minister was appointed as an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Sydney earlier this year.
- As Kaniva news reported in 2013, Dr Tu’ipulotu was the first Tongan to graduate with a doctorate in nursing from the university’s Nursing School.
For more information
Tonga’s first ever Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing will graduate tomorrow from the University of Sydney
