Auckland fellow named as 2022 Ray Hader Award for Pastoral Care recipient

New Zealand specialist anaesthetist Dr Janet Liang is the recipient of the 2022 Dr Ray Hader Award for Pastoral Care.

Dr Liang, who works at North Shore Hospital in Auckland, has been recognised for her tireless commitment to coaching and mentoring anaesthesia trainees over the past 25 years, mostly in her own time.

Many of the trainees she has mentored and supported through exam failures are now ANZCA fellows and respected colleagues who in turn are mentoring a younger generation of trainees. She continues to guide and support them as their careers have advanced and many say the impact she has had on their lives is profound.

Dr Liang is referred trainees by their supervisors of training, or approached by trainees directly, who know of her by reputation. She takes them under her wing and works with them to achieve success and colleagues say she is incredibly generous with her time.

When mentoring a trainee in preparation for an exam, she devotes four to five hours a week to each trainee, for about 12 months. Closer to the exam, the hours will increase to more than 10 hours a week – about 300 hours a year for each trainee. She sometimes coaches up to four trainees at a time and coaching is often conducted in her own home.

Welcoming trainees, getting to know them, providing meals and caring for the whole person is second nature to her. Her sessions are interactive and engaging and one trainee even noted that she “took me to a boxing session with her personal trainer to do viva practise!”

When she is on holiday or at a conference, she will even assign “homework” to trainees to email back to her and she continues face-to-face mentoring with Skype and Zoom.

Dr Liang is kind, honest and constructive with her feedback. She shows great determination never to give up on a trainee and tailors her support to the individual’s needs and strengths. Even when trainees have attained their FANZCA she will continue to mentor them, giving advice and guidance on obtaining positions, and ongoing career advice.

Dr Liang’s mentoring is not limited to ANZCA trainees and she has also mentored trainees in other specialties. She provides guidance and support to experienced colleagues in various stages of their career.

According to colleagues, Dr Liang pays close attention to the holistic needs of the people she mentors. She encourages resilience by considering each trainee’s social, emotional, psychological and physical health and prioritises people and relationships. She leads by example, maintaining her professional roles while supporting trainees.

*This article is based on information provided by Dr Liang’s award nominators.

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