Dr Pat Farry - Honoured Legacy

The legacy of a visionary leader and champion of rural health, Otago alumnus Dr Pat Farry (MNZM), has been recognised in the renaming of the University’s Rural Health Fund.

Pat (1944-2009) was a long-time Queenstown GP and Director of Otago’s highly successful Rural Medical Immersion Programme (RMIP). He devoted much of his career to advocating and lobbying for improvements and funding for rural medicine.

In recognition of Pat’s outstanding local and international contribution, the decision was made recently to rename the Rural Health Fund, which will now be known as the Pat Farry Rural Health Fund.

The fund is managed by the Faculty of Medicine’s Centre for Rural Health and supports activities such as an annual prize for the best performing RMIP student, research summer studentships within the Centre, hardship support for RMIP students and assistance for activities run by rural student clubs.

The first Director of the Centre for Rural Health, Professor Garry Nixon, is delighted the University is honouring Pat’s pioneering passion for rural medicine in this way.

“Pat was a visionary leader, instrumental in developing the rural health educational programmes that are the basis for the current Centre for Rural Health. Pat was not only a leader and an inspiration, he was also an important mentor and friend to his teaching and clinical colleagues. Renaming this fund will ensure an ongoing legacy and that Pat’s name remains attached to rural health activities at Otago.”

Pat was born and raised in Gore, and graduated with his medical degree from Otago in 1967. He practised in Queenstown for about 35 years and worked for the University for almost three decades.