The Alan Clarke Memorial Lecture (ACML) recognises the significant contributions that the founder of the Burwood Academy Trust, Prof. Clarke made to medical and rehabilitation science and practice, and in particular, to the institutions of the University of Otago, and the Burwood Academy Trust. To date there have been five ACML’s.
Speaker: Professor Gerben DeJong
Title: “What I learned from the Disability Community about Leadership in Health Care.”
The recording for this lecture can be found here. Headphones are recommended.
Prof. Alan M. Clarke (1932 – 2007)
The late Prof. Alan Clarke was Professor of Surgery at the University of Otago in Dunedin (1971-1986), then the Dean of the University of Otago Christchurch (1986-1994).
During his tenure as Dean in 1991, he became paraplegic after a fall from his roof. In 1994 he was appointed Clinical Director of the Spinal Unit at Burwood Hospital and in 2000 became Senior Rehabilitation Advisor to the General Manager at Burwood Hospital. He saw clearly the vision that people who sustain injury and disability should be in control of their own rehabilitation and became very supportive of the Independent Living (IL) paradigm, popularized by Gerben DeJong from USA. Prof. Clarke was involved in the formation of the New Zealand Spinal Trust and its Academic Sub-committee, which later morphed into an independent body, the Burwood Academy Trust (BAT).
He enjoyed rugby and took a great interest in measures to avoid neck injuries resulting from scrum incidents. He was a qualified pilot and continued to fly after his accident. Above all else he was enthusiastic about the activities that he took part in and achieved much in the various aspects of his career. He was awarded the Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1995.
Following his death in 2007, BAT established and funded an annual Memorial Lecture. His wife Jane and members of the family also attend.
Professor Gerben DeJong (speaker)
Gerben DeJong, PhD, FACRM is a Senior Fellow for Health Policy & Post-acute Care at the MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH). Dr. DeJong serves as Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, DC. Until recently, he was also Senior Advisor & Founding Partner with DeltaMed Partners, LLC, a health facility development and analysis firm based in Clarksville, MD and doing work in China. Prior to rejoining MedStar NRH in late 2004, Dr. DeJong served a 2-year stint with the University of Florida as a professor in the Department of Health Services Research, Management & Policy. Previously until 2001, Dr. DeJong served for 16 years (1985-2001) as MedStar NRH’s founding Director of Research. Dr. DeJong has conducted many large multi-centre clinical trial and health outcome studies. He is the author or co-author of nearly 300 papers on health policy, health care financing, post-acute care, and health outcomes. For more than 35 years, Dr. DeJong has tracked American post-acute health care system and its publicly traded companies, especially their growth, development, and consolidation. He is also an avid student of health care reform and has lectured widely on the topic. In 2006-07, Dr. DeJong served as President of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. He is the recipient of many awards and is a frequently invited speaker both in the United States and abroad. In 1984, he was a Fulbright Scholar in the Netherlands. In 2013, Dr. DeJong was the William Evans Visiting Fellow with the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery & Musculoskeletal Medicine at University of Otago and the Burwood Academy in Christchurch, New Zealand.
