Trudie Scott-Walker

Trudie Scott-Walker, PGDipHealMgt Student.

Trudie graduated with a Bachelor of Pharmacy from the University of Otago in 2000, and registered as a Pharmacist at the end of 2001. Becoming a Pharmacist appealed not only because of her strong interest in healthcare, but also because the possibility of owning a pharmacy business someday was very appealing.

From her early days working in community pharmacy, she took a strong interest in business management, often getting involved in business and marketing initiatives. This later led to work as a senior manager for a group of six pharmacies in and around London.

Trudie returned to New Zealand in 2008 and was briefly a part-owner and manager of a large community pharmacy in Dunedin, prior to the arrival of the first of her three children.

During the several years spent raising her children, Trudie also created an online baby: the personalised jewellery brand and online store LoveLoops. It was an overnight success and grew well beyond her expectations.

Despite this success, Trudie missed being involved in healthcare and was ready to take on a new challenge. So in 2016 she began part-time study towards a Postgraduate Diploma in Health Management (PGDipHealMgt). It offered the perfect mix of health and business papers to meet her ongoing interests.

"I have loved returning to study – although it's a little more of a juggle now than it was in my undergraduate days – and I have very much enjoyed the MBA papers. This has been my first experience learning about business in an academic setting, and I've found the content is both easily applied and extremely useful in practice. I've also enjoyed extending my knowledge of health systems, health economics, health funding and health policy."

Trudie is currently examining her options for and the future – with her experience, knowledge and enthusiasm there are plenty out there for her.