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Meet Patti Grogan | Growing the Puna

Ko Hikurangi te maunga
Ko Waiapu te awa
Ko Horouta te waka
Ko Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongowhakaata ngā iwi
Ko Ngāti Horowai te hapū
Ko Te Horo te marae 
Ko Patti Grogan ahau 

Kia ora

My name is Patricia Grogan but I am known by most as Patti. I was born and raised in Tairāwhiti, on the East Coast of Aotearoa New Zealand. My fiancé and I, along with our two young daughters, are currently based in Dublin, Ireland where we have resided for almost five years. 

In 2011 I completed a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) and Bachelor of Sport and Recreation (Physical Activity and Nutrition) Conjoint Degree at Auckland University of Technology. While undertaking my undergraduate studies I became very passionate about Māori health and hoped to one day further my studies within this area. Being overseas and being unable to work with a young whānau provided the best opportunity to do this. Therefore, in 2017 I began my Postgraduate Diploma of Public Health via distance through Massey University. 

At the end of 2019 I graduated with my Postgraduate Diploma and took a year off after having my second daughter. I have currently returned and am now in the process of undertaking my Masters of Public Health with Massey University also. 

To complete my Masters I am needing to undertake a praxis where 300 hours need to be completed within an organisation of your choice. I chose to approach Toi Tangata to gain a better insight into a Māori health organisation and see how kaupapa Māori is applied to their mahi and the Māori communities they work with to enable them to solve health challenges they face in society. From here I will undertake my thesis which will be based around cardiac rehabilitation and Māori retention into these programmes after a cardiac event.  

Overall, my personal journey is to grow within this area and improve on and develop my own insights into a Māori worldview of health while working with Toi Tangata. It will also offer experience towards my thesis, future career aspirations, research opportunities and more potential study desires for the future.