Balcutha GP Dr Branko Sijnja has been named the recipient of the Peter Snow Memorial Award for 2022, honouring his over 40 years of service to rural health. 

The award is granted by the New Zealand Rural General Practice Network to practitioners who show outstanding contributions to rural health.

It is named for influential Tapanui doctor Peter Snow, whose work contributed to the identification of chronic fatigue syndrome and raised awareness for related to farming accidents.

The New Zealand Rural General Practice Network says Sijnja is well known in Balclutha and by many students at the University of Otago for his leadership, commitment and inspiration.

Sijnja began his health career as a medical officer in 1974 and worked in in Scotland in the orthopaedic unit at Bridge of Earn Hospital and in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Perth Royal Infirmary.

In 1980, he moved into working in General Practice. 

Sijnja was involved in the forming of Clutha Health First, which opened in 1998 and offered hospital, community and general practice services in Balclutha.

In 2009, Sijnja became the Director of the Rural Medical Immersion Programme at the University of Otago.

The programme includes mentoring fifth year medical students as they spend a year working and studying in rural New Zealand.

To this day, Sijnja is still involved in the governance of Clutha Health First, sits on the Board of the Clutha Community Health Company Limited, and works a 12-hour shift in the clinic every Monday.

New Zealand Rural General Practice Chair Dr Fiona Bolden says Sijnja has always supported the Network.

“Whenever he comes to the conferences you can always spot him as he’s the one with the crowd of young doctors around him who know him through the training scheme- he’s usually telling them tales and there’s always lots of laughter,” she says.

In 2021, Sijnja was awarded Distinguished Fellowship of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners, which recognises Fellows of the College who have made sustained contributions to general practice, medicine, or the health and wellbeing of the community.

He currently works part time at the University and will be retiring from his role as Director at the end of June 2022. 

Sijnja says he plans to continue working at Clutha Health First for three days a week.