Bruce Arroll | GP and Clinical Epidemiologist

Bruce Arroll graduated in New Zealand, trained in Family Medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and completed a  Masters in Clinical Epidemiology in Vancouver, before returning to NewZealand.At McMaster, he was so impressed with clinical epidemiology, which later became an evidence-based practice, that he began a PhD in Epidemiology when he returned to NZ late in 1987, conducting a randomised controlled trial of sodium restriction and exercise in treated hypertensives. In 1991, he joined the Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, where he has remained. His research changed to rational prescribing of antibiotics in primary care, and he later got interested in rapid assessment and treatment of mental health conditions. In 2015, he started training in FACT (focussed acceptance and commitment therapy). He now works at the Calder Clinic at the Auckland City Mission with a highly disadvantaged group of citizens, most of whom have been homeless but are now housed, and many of whom have substance issues and where the average age of death is 51. Bruce has trained in written exposure therapy and is planning on conducting a randomised controlled trial in the Calder Clinic. He is also director of the Goodfellow Unit (www.goodfellowunit.org), which educates primary care clinicians