Writing
I started by putting words on a page so I could look at them. They were more knowable outside of my head. And I gradually found I could make sense of myself and my work as a GP if I rearranged these words into stories.
Over the years these stories and reflections have been published in my regular Column for New Zealand Doctor magazine, in the Journal of Primary Health Care and Corpus.
My collection Everything but the Medicine will be published by Massey University press September 2025.
Big thank you to Barbara Fountain and the team at New Zealand Doctor magazine for all your encouragement. You can support this awarding winning publication here.
And thanks to my dad Dr J.J. O’Hagan who questioned everything with gusto. And to my mum who put her red pen through my sentences but always believed in me.
'Waiting for Covid'
PANDEMIC STORIES READ TO YOU.
Waiting for a virus to descend upon an isolated island nation. Watching the pandemic snarling at our shores. Written during the Covid 19 pandemic these honest, funny, compelling reflections take you inside New Zealand’s pandemic story through the eyes of a General Practitioner.
Thanks to director Stuart Devenie and sound engineer Danny Fairley of Mirrors Audio. Loved working with you both.
Recent articles and insights
'Just Wondering'
Health care based on need is trickier to do than you think…
The political tag line ‘health care based on need’ is pretty enraging when you are at the coalface dealing with gross health inequities. Read more about why the rage here
Fa’afetai lava Tamā Pesetā
This is a personal story about the life of my sister-in-law’s father Pesetā Iosefa. And along side that the life of my own father. It is a reflection on the blessings that come from marriage across cultures and the joining of two families over 45 years.
Visiting Waitangi on Waitangi day
What an incredible uplifting experience. We all need to to it once in our lives. Well im going back next year! Let me convince you, read here.
Oration. RNZCGP Fellowship and awards ceremony.
It was a great honour to be invited to speak at the GP college awards and fellowship ceremony. I love this ceremony. As a teacher it is so uplifting to see students cross the stage.
What should I say to them I wondered? You can read my speech here.
the book is nearly written!
My first collection of stories and essays about doctors patients and stories will be with you soon. Prepare to be moved, shaken and stirred. Be ready to laugh, cry, then laugh again. This book will make both doctors and patients re consider the medical encounter and what it does to all our stories.
Be the first to know when the book is released by subscribing below
