Rate My Professor Somer Wrigley

Somer Wrigley is a Lecturer in First Peoples Health at the School of Medicine and Dentistry, Griffith Health, Griffith University. She is based at the Ian O'Connor Building (G40) 8.23 on the Gold Coast campus. An Aboriginal and South Seas woman, Wrigley has worked extensively in Aboriginal health and currently convenes the 3121MED First Peoples Health and Practice course for students on the Gold Coast and Logan campuses. Her academic qualifications include a Bachelor of Nursing (RN), Master of Nursing from the University of Queensland (2013-2015), Graduate Certificate in Indigenous Research Methodologies, and she is a PhD candidate. As an associate member of Griffith University's Indigenous Research Unit, she contributes to First Peoples-led research and education efforts focused on cultural capability development in health professionals.

Wrigley's research specializations center on cultural safety and capability measurement tools for health education targeting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. She co-authored the 2017 publication 'Development of a First Peoples-led cultural capability measurement tool: A pilot study with midwifery students' in Women and Birth (Volume 30, Issue 5, pages 426-433), which employed a decolonising approach to create and validate a 22-item tool aligned with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Curriculum Framework's core capabilities of respect, communication, safety and quality, reflection, and advocacy. The pilot demonstrated strong internal reliability (Cronbach alpha 0.89-0.91) and significant pre-post course improvements in scores. Additional key publications include 'Impact of a discrete First Peoples health course on students' experience and development of cultural capabilities' (2019), 'A new measure of nursing and midwifery students' self-reported cultural capabilities' in Nurse Education Today (2021), and contributions to 'Measuring effectiveness of cultural safety education in First Peoples' health courses' (2021). Wrigley served as an expert mentor in the Indigenous Medication Review Service (IMeRSe) feasibility study (2018-2020), aiding pharmacists in providing culturally safe medication reviews. She also contributed to the Nursing and Midwifery Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Curriculum Framework (2020).