Rate My Professor Emily Cavana

Dr. Emily Cavana serves as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice at the University of Otago's Faculty of Medicine, Wellington, a role she assumed in 2023. A Fellow of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (FRNZCGP), she is a specialist general practitioner who has been practicing in the greater Wellington region since 2006. Currently, her clinical practice is at Vibe, a Youth One Stop Shop (YOSS) in the Hutt Valley, where she focuses on youth health services. Beyond academia and clinical work, Cavana acts as a medical educator and examination assessor for the RNZCGP. She provides expert advice to the RNZCGP on cervical screening matters and has participated in national Cervical Screening Advisory and Working Groups since 2014. A first-generation New Zealander with predominantly Irish and Scottish heritage, she brings a unique perspective to her professional endeavors.

Cavana holds a Bachelor of Science from Victoria University of Wellington, a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (BMBS) from Flinders University, Adelaide, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Health Sciences (2022) specializing in general practice and cognitive behavioural therapy. Her research specializations include wellbeing, youth, and women's health. In her teaching capacity, she has served as a clinical teacher for several years, facilitating medical students and GP trainees in observing her patient-facing consultations. Within the department, she primarily instructs undergraduate medical students and co-convenes the 4th year module. Additionally, as an RNZCGP medical educator, she trains senior GP trainees. She also co-convenes the GENA702 Sexual and Reproductive Health postgraduate paper. Among her key publications is Cavana, E. (2023). "PROPOSAL: Whānau and workforce wellbeing: The parent who is also a general practitioner within Aotearoa: A qualitative study," published in the Proceedings of the New Zealand Primary Health Care, General Practice & Rural Health Research Symposium (p. 14).