Member Spotlight:
Mark Ashburner

Where do you work and what do you do?

I am a Medical Physicist at the Mighty Waikato.

What does a good day at work look like?

If nothing breaks, that’s a win – but if nothing ever breaks, people start wondering what we actually do.

We kick off with morning QA at 7am, making sure the linacs are in peak condition so our patients can get treated safely.  This means spotting any potential failures before they happen. Then it’s the first essential meeting of the day – around the coffee machine.

From there, it’s a mix of checking and validating individual patient treatment plans, troubleshooting issues, and sneaking in patient-specific QA between treatments. A few times a week we might get lucky and have a machine for a couple of hours to run precision checks, making sure we can deliver high doses of radiation to small internal, often moving, targets in our patients – while avoiding important organs at risk close by.

Outside of daily operations, the physics team works on developing new treatment strategies, commissioning the latest equipment, and – for me personally – exploring AI solutions to streamline department and hospital workflows, looking where to predict early interventions to improve patient care.

Then lunch. Hopefully due to the hard work we all put in within oncology, some patients are kind enough to drop off treats, this can range from chocolates, homemade cakes or freshly caught and smoked trout – it’s a good day when the dept. staff room is full of treats like these!

Afternoons are often prep for the late shift when the linacs are free. This is when we verify that all the intricate work done in our treatment systems translates to the real machine. We also work with RTs to prepare radioactive medicines like I-131 for thyroid patients, making sure everyone is fully briefed for their brief stint as a walking radiation source.

Routine checks and further research and lit reviewing wrap up the day – ideally around 6:20pm – but if something’s broken, the “good day” can turn into a “bad evening” or even a “bad week” fast. Thankfully, breakdowns are rare thanks to our checks and a healthy dose of paranoia.

What do you like about being a National Executive member?

The camaraderie and seeing just how much APEX quietly gets done behind the scenes. It’s also great to learn how other centres handle challenges and bring that knowledge back to our own team.

How have you found your involvement with APEX over the years? What makes us different, relevant…?

Loved it from the start. On my first day in NZ, a colleague heard my Northern English accent and decided I should be the advocate. If there’s one thing I love more than anything, it’s arguing for my colleagues to get the best and fairest outcome – and healthcare gives plenty of opportunities for that. I like that APEX treats us as distinct professional groups rather than lumping everyone into “allied health”, it allows us to negotiate based on our individual group merits and strengths and acknowledges the broad range of services and expertise in the allied health sector, which is often overlooked seeing as we don’t fall into the “Big 3” (Dr, Nurse or Admin!)

“If there’s one thing I love more than anything, it’s arguing for my colleagues to get the best and fairest outcome.”

What do you think APEX should focus on for AST professions in the future?

Being a Physicist, I spend a lot of time looking at the latest scientific research. All the evidence says shorter work weeks improve productivity and prevents burnout, and yet NZ’s health system still clings to the 40-hour week. I’d like to see us push for the 37-hour standard our Australian and UK peers enjoy.

What do you like to do when you’re not at work?

I’ve got three young boys, so honestly, I come to work for a rest. I’m also doing a part-time Master’s in AI (midlife crisis #1) and, when I can, I take the motorbike out for a cruise around NZ (midlife crisis #2). The scenery reminds me why I stay here instead of giving in to the temptation of moving across the pond.