Rate My Professor Erik Rufa

Dr. Erik Rufa serves as Director of the Otago Clinical Skills Laboratories (OCSL), a collaborative facility between the University of Otago Faculty of Medicine and Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Southern. He oversees comprehensive tutor-led clinical skills training and educational programs for medical students and clinical staff, leveraging advanced medical simulation techniques to seamlessly bridge the transition from classroom theory to real-world clinical practice. In addition, Dr. Rufa is the Convenor of Clinical Skills for the Faculty of Medicine in Dunedin, a part-time internal medicine consultant at Dunedin Hospital, and Associate Dean for Tairāwhiti, Gisborne, supporting regional medical education initiatives within the Division of Health Sciences.

An accomplished internal medicine specialist originally from the United States, Dr. Rufa possesses extensive expertise in simulation-based medical education. His career includes seven years of dedicated work in simulation training in the Boston area, followed by his role as Director of Education for the simulation centre at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University. Relocating to Aotearoa New Zealand in April 2022, he commenced his association with the University of Otago at Gisborne Hospital as the Faculty of Medicine's Associate Dean for Tairāwhiti. He assumed the OCSL Directorship in December 2023. Dr. Rufa's strategic priorities for OCSL involve integrating its programs into Te Whatu Ora Southern's quality and safety frameworks, developing interprofessional educational opportunities, and expanding the team's capacity, physical spaces, and equipment resources. These endeavors aim to strengthen experiential learning, elevate training standards for future healthcare professionals, and contribute to superior patient care outcomes through innovative simulation methodologies.