Future healthcare-leader Lauren awarded fellowship honour

Ingham oral health therapist Lauren Hawley has become the first oral heath clinician in Queensland to be accepted into a Healthcare Improvement Fellowship aimed at creating future leaders in health.

Lauren beat out 200 other applicants to become one of only eight fellows offered a place in the fellowship which is open to medical officers, nurses, midwives, allied health practitioners and dental officers.

Lauren said she was excited to have been accepted into the 12-month program.

“The fellowship will provide theoretical knowledge and practical expertise, provide an opportunity to build our networks and learn from colleagues, and guide us to become positive change agents in our areas,” Lauren said.

“The program will be a mixture of online and face-to-face learning; I’m especially looking forward to meeting the seven other fellows and learning from them and their experiences.”

Lauren currently works as an Oral Health Therapist in the school dental service, caring for students in the Ingham region stretching from Kennedy to Toobanna.
“I really like working with kids; they’re a lot of fun,” Lauren said.

“I’m a big advocate for getting kids to look after their oral health, early.

“By getting kids familiar with going to the dentist and creating positive experiences we can help to reduce dental phobia later in life.”

Lauren said she loved her line of work.

“I’m passionate about dental health and I’m hoping this fellowship will teach me some really valuable skills to improve health care delivery not just for our dental patients, but for Townsville HHS as a whole,” she said.

“I want to find ways to tell people about our service, and to make dental health care more accessible, particularly for those who have a phobia of dental treatment.”

The fellowship kicks off in March 2021 and will run until February 2022.