WMHS Talks Archive

Wednesday 1st July, 2026

History of the Life Flight Trust – Andrew Wilson

Presented by Dr Michael Harrison, Andrew Wilson

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 3rd June, 2026

Rīga Stradiņš University Anatomy Museum

Presented by Associate Professor Dr Jayne Krisjanous

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 6th May, 2026

Florence Nightingale

Presented by Lin Coleman

Florence Nightingale was born May 12, 1820, died Aug 1910 aged 90. She was one of the most influential figures of her time and the founder of nursing…

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 4th March, 2026

Otago Medical School 1875-2025 – 150 years of Staff and Students

Presented by Dawn Elder

In 2025 the Otago Medical School celebrated its 150th Anniversary. New Zealand’s first medical school was established just 6 years after the establishment of Otago University and had a…

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 4th February, 2026

Dr John Plimmer and the Road to Crete

Presented by Dr Aine McCoy

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 3rd December, 2025

Elimination of Cervical Cancer in our Lifetime

Presented by Bev Lawton

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 5th November, 2025

Thomas Hodgkin

Presented by Archie Kerr

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 1st October, 2025

An Early Medical Woman of NZ – the extraordinary life and times of Dr Bettina Collier

Presented by Emeritus Professor Sue Pullon

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 3rd September, 2025

Doktor Bilong Kuru – Dr Richard W Hornabrook – his part in finding its cause.

Presented by David Abernethy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t-Ifl9IxnA

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 6th August, 2025

History of an expert system for anaesthesia monitoring with Michael Harrison

Presented by Dr Michael Harrison

Anaesthesia Monitoring from 1970 – 2025 The Early Detection of Diagnostic Information https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNTNT821P1Y

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 4th June, 2025

Drs Henry and Cecily Pickerill, Mother-Nursing, and Cleft Lip and Palate Surgery on Infant Patients at the Bassam Hospital, 1939-1967

Presented by Barbara Brookes

I examine the pioneering work of New Zealand plastic surgeons Henry and Cecily Pickerill, specifically their establishment of the Bassam Hospital in 1939. For nearly thirty years this…

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 4th June, 2025

Women Doctors on the Nineteenth Century Stage: Education and Entertainment

Presented by Barbara Brookes

A talk on the creation of a new kind of women-only theatre that she (Longshore-Potts) and some other 19thC women doctors embarked on and why they did so.…

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 7th May, 2025

Performing with Difficulty | presenter David Barker

Presented by David Barker

David Barker has been a Wellington resident since 2016 and NZ citizen since 2022, having moved from Australia “for the weather”. He is not a medical doctor but…

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 2nd April, 2025

Mary Truby King’s Holidays in 1918 – The Armistice, Influenza and Christmas at Porirua

Presented by Clare Ashton

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 5th March, 2025

Dr Marie Stopes: Pioneer of Sex Education and Family Planning

Presented by Dr Aine McCoy

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 6th November, 2024

The History of Cardiac Electrophysiology in NZ

Presented by Lin Coleman

Electrophysiology is the branch of physiology that studies the electrical properties of biological cells and tissues. It involves measurements of voltage. Remarkable work and research have been undertaken…

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 2nd October, 2024

Eponymity | presented by Michael Harrison MD FRCA FANZCA

Presented by Dr Michael Harrison

Presentation Topic: Eponymity: The state of being identified and recognised by name. Some in this group of physicians were good, but some were not so good. Was the…

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 4th September, 2024

Medicine & Music: Die Young, Stay Pretty | presented by David Baker

Presented by David Barker

David Barker has been a Wellington resident since 2016 and NZ citizen since 2022, having moved from Australia “for the weather”. He is not a medical doctor but…

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 7th August, 2024

President Garfield, Alexander Bell and the bullet | David Abernethy

Presented by David Abernethy

Foster Kennedy mentioned Horsley using a bullet probe to successfully locate and remove a bullet from the head of an attempted suicide. It caught my attention because FK…

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 3rd July, 2024

The Legacy of Two Frenchmen | presented by Archie Kerr

Presented by Archie Kerr

Presentation Topic: A look at tuberculosis around the world and the development of BCG with a few surprises. Presenter Bio: Archie was a General Paediatrician at Hutt Hospital…

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 5th June, 2024

Wellington Medical History Society Hospitals at Christmas: 1890-1940

Presented by Associate Professor Dr Jayne Krisjanous

Presentation Topic Hospitals focus on efficiency and effectiveness. It is fascinating though how hospitals located where Christianity is dominant create temporary spaces to celebrate Christmas. Here they seemingly…

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 1st May, 2024

William Borrowdale Tripe: An early Wellington Doctor

Presented by Associate Professor Dr Jayne Krisjanous

Jayne joined the WMHS in 2012 and was appointed Chairperson in 2019.   Jayne is on the academic staff of the School of Marketing and International Business at Victoria…

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 3rd April, 2024

Herbert Barker – Manipulative Surgeon

Presented by Dr Michael Harrison

Reginald Pound was an English journalist and biographer. His book ‘Harley Street’ is a chronological tale of people and events. For this presentation I’m going to present the…

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 6th March, 2024

A history of blood transfusion

Presented by Noel Sulzberger

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 7th February, 2024

Plastic Surgery – a personal account

Presented by David Glasson

Training – Hutt Hospital, then Melbourne in ’86 and Oxford ’87. Consultant at Hutt 1988-2005. Private practice part time 1988-2005, then full time until retirement in December 2020.

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 6th December, 2023

From the discovery of RNA to Covid

Presented by Dr Michael Harrison

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 1st November, 2023

Brockenhurst Hospital

Presented by Lin Coleman

A detailed description is not currently available for this presentation.

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 4th October, 2023

Baby feeding

Presented by Archie Kerr

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 6th September, 2023

Quacks and Quackery

Presented by Associate Professor Dr Jayne Krisjanous

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 2nd August, 2023

History of the Oncology Department at Wellington Hospital

Presented by David Hamilton

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 5th July, 2023

Mystery in the Dhala Valley 1944. A Doctor Investigates

Presented by Dr Aine McCoy

Wednesday 7th June, 2023

Man v Beast – how malaria has shaped the world we live in

Presented by Archie Kerr

Wednesday 3rd May, 2023

Medication abortion in New Zealand and the story of Istar

Presented by Carol Shand

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 5th April, 2023

The History of Pregnancy Tests

Presented by Dame Margaret Sparrow

The collection of contraceptive items that were donated to Family Planning.

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 1st March, 2023

British Academic Anaesthetists 1950-60

Presented by Dr Michael Harrison

The Anaesthetic Research Society emblem based on Mandragora officinarum Anaesthesia is now very safe; it is safer now partly because of the research work that many academics carried…

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 1st February, 2023

A history of the breast in art and disease

Presented by Burton King

A detailed description is not currently available for this presentation.

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 7th December, 2022

A history of stroke management

Presented by David Abernethy

A detailed description is not currently available for this presentation.

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 2nd November, 2022

WW1 NZ Nurse Anaesthetists

Presented by Associate Professor Dr Jayne Krisjanous

A detailed description is not currently available for this presentation.

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 5th October, 2022

Ettie Rout

Presented by Jane Tolerton

A detailed description is not currently available for this presentation.

Wednesday 7th September, 2022

“I have met an angel!”: The life and work of Kathleen Hall

Presented by Noel Sulzberger

A detailed description is not currently available for this presentation.

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 3rd August, 2022

The NZ Asthma Epidemic

Presented by Professor Richard Beasley

A detailed description is not currently available for this presentation.

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 6th July, 2022

Soutra Aisle in the Scottish Borders

Presented by Archie Kerr

A detailed description is not currently available for this presentation.

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 1st June, 2022

Jennifer Doudna and Gene Editing

Presented by Peter Hatfield

A detailed description is not currently available for this presentation. Cancelled May 2022

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 6th April, 2022

The Challenges of Historical Biography: Anna Longshore Potts

Presented by Barbara Brookes

A detailed description is not currently available for this presentation.

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 6th April, 2022

Snapshots of Aweil: Doctors without Borders, South Sudan

Presented by Anu Langdana

A detailed description is not currently available for this presentation.

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 2nd March, 2022

Doug Jolly – NZ surgeon in the Spanish Civil War

Presented by Mark Derby, David Lowe

A detailed description is not currently available for this presentation.

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 2nd March, 2022

Preserving the Past: A glimpse into the Oral Archives of the New Zealand Medical Women’s Association

Presented by Dr Aine McCoy

A detailed description is not currently available for this presentation.

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 1st December, 2021

A history of Pituitary Surgery

Presented by Reuben Johnson

A detailed description is not currently available for this presentation.

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 3rd November, 2021

Keeping the Wolff from the door: The history and legacy of Wolff, Parkinson and White

Presented by Lucy Sulzberger

A detailed description is not currently available for this presentation.

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 4th August, 2021

The History of Cataract Surgery

Presented by Paul Herrick

A detailed description is not currently available for this presentation.

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 7th July, 2021

Emergency Medicine in a cold climate, April 1982

Presented by Dr Michael Harrison

A detailed description is not currently available for this presentation.

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 2nd June, 2021

Grace Neill

Presented by Merian Litchfield

https://echo360.org.au/section/df34bb76-7fdc-4a05-ad1a-cd6bc0fefc21/home A detailed description is not currently available for this presentation.

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 5th May, 2021

A Plague a’ both your houses – A largely literary look at past plague pandemics

Presented by Ron Easthope

A detailed description is not currently available for this presentation.

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 7th April, 2021

Victor Horsley – pioneer of epilepsy surgery and man of many parts

Presented by David Abernethy

A detailed description is not currently available for this presentation.

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 3rd March, 2021

Abu Ali ibn Sina’s (Avicenna) contribution to medical science

https://echo360.org.au/section/f1dd1adc-723d-4d66-961f-42c7a283902b/home A detailed description is not currently available for this presentation.

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre

Wednesday 3rd March, 2021

From Omnipotent Doctor to Multidisciplinary Team Susi Williams 2016

Presented by Susi Williams

Susi Williams traces the shift from the traditionally authoritative, “omnipotent” doctor to modern multidisciplinary healthcare teams. Drawing on medical history and her own experience in general practice, hospital…

Newtown Salvation Army Worship and Community Centre