Dr Sharad Paul in his Blockhouse Bay medical practice. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey
Auckland-based skin cancer specialist Dr Sharad Paul was joint recipient of the award for Leading Health Improvement on a Global Scale at the APAC Forum Awards this week.
The APAC Forum is Asia Pacific's premier healthcare conference.
Dr Paul runs the Skin Surgery Clinic, where thousands of free skin cancer checks are carried out each year.
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"In just beavering away at my practice in Blockhouse Bay I am surprised how my work has evolved globally," he said.
"This award gives me an opportunity to encourage and challenge all those in the field of medicine or healthcare that are frustrated by the slow pace of change to 'become the change' and when you finish changing, your work will be automatically done."
The other recipient was Goran Henriks of Sweden who is a global thought leader in improvement and microsystems.
Dr Paul said the award helped to "open minds and create discussion and debate that can bring about major change even in an old-fashioned industry like medicine".
"Having worked in public hospitals and in primary care, lectured and written extensively and been nontraditional and open minded in much of my approach to medicine, I have often felt like a misfit," he said.
Dr Paul was also the lead author and editor of an international specialist skin cancer textbook, recently published in the USA,
He was honoured earlier this year by a dinner at Oxford University after he was one of the Chairs at the World Congress of Dermoscopy and Skin Imaging in Vienna.
The vehicle was damaged while later being towed and an $11k claim by the owner followed.