Rarotonga-based doctor Nini Wynn has become the second Pacific-Islands physician to complete a postgraduate diploma in Rural and Provincial Hospital Practice from the University of Otago.

Nini Wynn, who has been living in the Cook Islands since 2004, graduated in absentia on December 11, 2021.

According to Wynn, the achievement was made possible through distance learning, although she was able to attend her final residential workshop in Christchurch earlier this year despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

Wynn said she gained valuable knowledge and connections while completing her postgraduate studies.

“My experience at Otago has broadened my knowledge and improved my clinical decision making in my everyday practice. I have also gained a valuable professional and collegial network in New Zealand that I continue to draw on.”

Wynn began her Otago studies in Rural and Provincial Hospital Practice in 2014 as part of one component of the Cook Islands General Practice training programme, a Cook Islands initiative in partnership with the University of Otago and the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP).

The initiative required that she complete a Postgraduate Certificate in Rural and Provincial Hospital Practice which she achieved in 2016.

Following that achievement, Wynn decided she would continue her studies completing four more papers while working full-time.

Wynn said her success would not have been possible without the support of her family and colleagues.

“I would like to thank my husband, Myo, and my colleagues at Rarotonga hospital for their support; the Cook Islands Ministry of Health; the University of Otago Rural Postgraduate Programme Faculty and the RNZCGP. Particular thanks also to former Cook Islands Secretary of Health Mrs Elizabeth Iro, Dr Kati Blattner and Dr Kiki Maoate.”

Wynn has been living in the Cook Islands since 2004 with her husband and three young daughters.

She grew up in Myanmar, where she completed her medical degree at the University of Yangon.

Once in the Cook Islands, she began working with Te Marae Ora (TMO) Cook Islands Ministry of Health as a general medical practitioner.

She has done placements in the outer islands as the sole doctor, first in the northern group island of Manihiki, then in the southern group on Mangaia.

Wynn returned to Rarotonga in 2009 where she continued to work for the MOH in the General Outpatient Department.

Wynn currently works as the lead practitioner of the Rarotonga Medical Centre located in Avarua.