Rate My Professor Ruth Jeffery

Dr. Ruth Jeffery serves as a Research Adviser at Health Research South, which is part of the University of Otago Faculty of Medicine. In this role, she supports health and medical research in southern New Zealand by providing assistance with commercial trial costing and budget preparation. Her office hours are 8:30am–12:30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 8:30am–5:00pm on Wednesdays.

Jeffery brings a unique blend of experience from medical imaging and law to her position. She worked for about 20 years as a medical radiation technologist, holding postgraduate qualifications in Ultrasound and Nuclear Medicine, with positions in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia. Transitioning to legal studies, she earned an LLB with Honours from the University of Otago in 2008 and practiced law for two years. After a sailing interlude, she joined Fisher & Paykel Healthcare as an employment advocate, fueling her interest in employment law. This led to her PhD in the Faculty of Law at the University of Otago, conferred in December 2018. The thesis, titled Defining the parameters of the employee-employer relationship in the presence of mental health disorders, examines employer obligations under New Zealand's Human Rights Act 1993 when mental illness impairs performance, determining if such poor performance triggers discrimination protections requiring accommodation rather than dismissal.

Complementing her legal scholarship, Jeffery co-authored peer-reviewed articles during her time affiliated with the Department of Anatomy, Otago School of Medical Sciences. Notable publications include An anatomical ultrasound study of the long posterior sacro-iliac ligament (Clinical Anatomy, 2010), The dorsal sacral rami and branches (International Journal of Osteopathic Medicine, 2012), and Sonographic anatomy of the pubic symphysis in healthy nulliparous women (Clinical Anatomy, 2014). Her earlier honours dissertation from 2008, Incapacity and Consent to Medical Treatment: Inconsistencies and Uncertainties in the Application of the Objectives of the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988, further demonstrates her engagement with medico-legal issues.