Rate My Professor Wayne Morriss

Clinical Associate Professor Wayne Morriss serves in the Department of Anaesthesia at the University of Otago, Christchurch, within the Medicine faculty of the Division of Health Sciences. He earned his MBChB from the University of Otago in 1988, a Diploma in Obstetrics from Otago, and is a Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (FANZCA). His career includes anaesthetic training in Christchurch and Melbourne, followed by a position as Senior Lecturer in Anaesthesia and Physiology at the Fiji School of Medicine from 2000 to 2002. Since 2002, he has worked as a Specialist Anaesthetist at Christchurch Hospital, contributing to clinical practice in neuroanaesthesia, pain management, resuscitation, and obstetric anaesthesia.

Morriss's academic interests center on global anaesthesia workforce and training, global anaesthesia standards, neurosurgical anaesthesia, resuscitation and trauma management, obstetric anaesthesia, and pain management education. Notable publications include 'The WFSA global anesthesia workforce survey' (2017), 'Perioperative mortality rate (POMR): a global indicator of access to safe surgery and anaesthesia' (2015), 'Pain management in low- and middle-income countries' (2018), 'What is the minimum number of specialist anaesthetists needed in low-income and middle-income countries?' (2018), and 'The Global Anesthesia Workforce Survey: Updates and trends in the anesthesia workforce' (2024). His impact on the field is evident through leadership at the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA), serving as President (2022-2024, the first New Zealander), President-Elect (2020-2022), Director of Programmes (2016-2020), and Chair of the Education Committee (2012-2016). As WFSA liaison to the World Health Organization, he addressed the World Health Assembly on anaesthesia workforce resourcing and health disparities. He co-developed educational programmes such as Essential Pain Management (EPM), Primary Trauma Care (PTC), and Safer Anaesthesia From Education (SAFE). In 2024, he received the New Zealand Society of Anaesthetists President’s Award and the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists Robert Orton Medal for distinguished service.