Nicolas Szecket
“Throughout my training, and up until this very day, I have always relied on a very careful, methodical approach when trying to diagnose my patients. It is my goal to teach this approach so that even my most junior students have the chance to make the best decisions for their patients”
Nic is originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina but lived on four continents before his parents settled in Toronto, Canada when he was 15. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto (UofT) in microbiology and immunology, attended medical school at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and then went back to UofT to complete training in Internal Medicine. He did a Masters in Public Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, finishing in 2010. Nic and his family made the permanent move to Auckland, New Zealand in 2010.
After completing his fellowship Nic worked mostly in large urban teaching centres, first at the Toronto General and Mount Sinai Hospitals in Toronto, and now at Auckland City Hospital. He has had extensive experience working in smaller hospitals as well, both in Canada and New Zealand, as well as remote areas overseas. His two main interests have been systems design and medical education. Nic has managed many innovation projects and has successfully implemented new work models in his respective departments. He is an award-winning teacher, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Art Nahill
“I am constantly amazed by the rate at which our factual knowledge expands within the field of medicine. In comparison, our understanding of how we think as physicians is in its infancy but it is precisely this process that enables us to effectively apply our knowledge to the plight of the patients we encounter. I am keenly interested in learning about and improving my own clinical reasoning skills as well as teaching those skills to students and colleagues”
Art is originally from the Boston area and grew up as a long-suffering yet faithful Red Sox fan. He attended Yale University and after three years as a high-school science teacher obtained his medical degree from the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the Harvard-affiliated Mount Auburn Hospital and spent the next twelve years practicing and teaching in general medicine in the Boston area before moving to New Zealand with his Kiwi wife and two children in 2005.
Since changing hemispheres, Art has worked in the General Medicine Department of Auckland Hospital as a consultant physician, (former) Clinical Director, award-winning clinical teacher, and the current Director of Education. He is also a widely published, award-winning poet.
Samantha Smith
“By the time medical students graduate from medical school, over half of what they were taught will be outdated. We all have to learn how to stay current, how to explore the knowledge around us, and how to reason things through with our peers when we are in uncharted territory.”
Samantha spent her formative years not far from Art, in rural Massachusetts. She attended medical school in North Carolina, did her Internship at Georgetown, finished her Internal Medicine Residency in Portland, Maine then completed a Fellowship in General Internal Medicine at Dartmouth University. She spent 10 years in Maine at Maine Medical Center, then moved to Asheville, North Carolina. She relocated to Auckland, New Zealand in 2019 “for one year”.
Throughout training Samantha has had a passion for Global Health, working in Haiti, on the Thai-Burma border, and with refugees in Maine. She performed asylum evaluations in Portland for several years, working extensively with the Somali community. In Asheville she held roles in Quality and Safety, was an adjunct faculty for the University of North Carolina Medical School, and served for a year as the Clinical Director for her Hospitalist Program.
When not at work, Samantha likes to run with friends and her dog, hang out with her family, and paint.
Samantha met Art and Nic through Auckland City Hospital, arriving just as Art was moving on. COVID darkened the days but not the spirits of Nic and Art, who would still be spotted at any permissible outings sparring with vibrant humour over a case, or sharing stories from the wards. She is thrilled to be joining their illustrious team, and looks forward to teaching, learning, and laughing in future podcasts.
