Dr Felicity Croker ~ Adjunct Associate Professor

Informed by 40 years of clinical practice, teaching and research in regional, remote and disadvantaged communities within Australia and the Asia Pacific, Felicity is strongly committed to educating a socially accountable health workforce who can contribute effectively to low resource communities within the tropics. This commitment is reflected in her JCU Excellence awards, multiple citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning and Australian Award for University Teaching Excellence. 

Felicity has applied a broad inter-professional focus to teaching and research roles across disciplinary boundaries and campuses while working with social sciences, Indigenous health, education, health sciences, public health, medicine and dentistry.  Currently, as an Adjunct Associate Professor, Felicity actively engages in JCU research and teaching roles, and continues with health-related consultancy work. 

Current collaborative research focuses on rural health workforce, dental graduate outcomes, LGBTQIA+ education for health professionals, and the award winning Dentists and Domestic Violence – Recognise Respond and Refer program, which focuses on developing dentists’ capacity to respond appropriately to domestic violence and provide trauma informed care.  

Career highlights include being a founding academic in both Nursing Sciences and Dental Surgery at JCU, contributing to remote Indigenous public health research, establishing international clinical placements for Dentistry, developing a successful dentistry capstone year, embedding domestic violence education into dental curricula, developing student dentists’ ability to provide oral health promotion and respond effectively to medical emergencies, and enabling young dental researchers to succeed. 

As a founding academic in JCU Dentistry, she has contributed to curriculum development, implementation and evaluation of the program leading to full accreditation (2013). She successfully initiated and coordinated 19 domestic and 8 international dentistry placements.

Felicity is a former member of the Cairns and Hinterland Health and Hospital Board (2013-2016). She has twice been appointed to the Regional Development Australia (FNQ & Torres) Board, served on the Cairns Hospital Ethics Committee for 13 years and continues to contribute to rural and remote health organisations.  

Previously, Felicity successfully managed completion of the NHMRC Longitudinal Indigenous Health project (2008).  She contributed to Queensland’s rural and remote training and chronic disease initiatives as a regional project leader (2007-2010). Subsequent consultancies have prepared Aboriginal health services for accreditation and reviewed health workforce planning in the Northern Territory (2009-2010). With Latrobe and JCU colleagues, she collaboratively implemented the NHMRC partnership project focussed on Engaging Rural Communities in Oral Health (2013-2017). While Associate Dean Teaching and Learning (2010 – 2014) she contributed to Faculty / DTHM performance during a period of significant policy changes and higher education reforms.  She was selected to represent JCU in Beijing (1995) and coordinating the Swedish rural exchange program (1996-1997).

 

Teaching

• DS4101: Clinical Dentistry 2 (Level 4; CNS)
• DS4102: Clinical Dentistry 3 (Level 4; CNS)
• DS5101: Clinical Practice 1 (Comprehensive Oral Care) (Level 5; CNS)
• DS5102: Clinical Practice 2 (Comprehensive Oral Care) (Level 5; CNS)

Interests

Research

• rural and remote health, health workforce, dentistry, domestic violence, curriculum, oral health, development, women's health, nursing, LGBTQIA+

Teaching

• rural and remote health, domestic violence, health promotion, clinical experiences, research, ethics, oral health, Indigenous health, qualitative research, lifespan development

Research Disciplines

• Curriculum and pedagogy (3901)
• Dentistry (3203)

Awards

• 2020 - JCU Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning
• 2019 - Australian Award for University Teaching (AAUT). Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning.
• 2018 - JCU Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning - JCU Overall Winner
• 2018 - JCU Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning - DTHM Citation
• 2016 - JCU Award for Excellence in recognition of outstanding achievement - Rural Engaging Communities in Oral Health project
• 2016 - Teaching and Learning Quick Start Grant : Dr Karen Carlisle, Dr Felicity Croker and Prof Sarah Larkins
• 2016 - JCU Award for Excellence in recognition of outstanding achievement - Cross Unit Collaboration - integration of domestic violence content into curriculum
• 2015 - Inclusive Practice Award JCU 2015 In recognition of exceptional support for students with a disability

Memberships

• 2001 to 2020 - CRANAPlus
• 2017 to 2019 - JCU Academic Board member: Engagement role
• 2013 to 2019 - JCU-CHHHS Joint Inter-Professional Planning Committee for Education, Training & Research
• 2017 to 2018 - National Rural Health Alliance: Friends Advisory Committee; Queensland Representative
• 2016 - Optimising Indigenous Health, Invited member, Anti-Discrimination Commission Queensland.
• 2013 to 2016 - Cairns and Hinterland Health and Hospital Service Board, Queensland Health, Cairns
• 2013 to 2016 - Chair - Community Advisory Group, Cairns and Hinterland Health and Hospital Service Board
• 2009 to 2014 - Regional Development Australia - Far North Queensland and Torres Strait Inc
• 2009 to 2014 - Committees of Academic Board - Education Committee - Academic Policy - Teaching & Learning Management - Equity and Diversity - Student Experience - Reconciliation
• 2002 to 2014 - Human Research Ethics Committee, Cairns & Hinterland Hospital and Health Service; member and reviewer
• 2008 to 2009 - Expert Panel, Rural & Remote Orientation, Office of Chief Nurse, Queensland Health
• 2001 to 2002 - Academic Board, JCU
• 1997 to 1999 - University Council, JCU
• 1997 to 1999 - Academic Board, JCU

Other

• 2010 - Certificate of Recognition, Australian College of Educators, World Teachers Day, 2010 • For dedication and commitment to ensuring quality education throughout the implementation of the new Dentistry course

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Carrington A, Croker F, Lee-Ross A, Keogh S and Dewar S (2023) Critical reflections on an interprofessional collaboration to develop domestic violence curriculum in an undergraduate dentistry program. Reflective Practice, 24 (2). pp. 183-196
• Allen T, O'Loughlin M and Croker F (2022) Teaching health promotion competencies in undergraduate dentistry training: A unique pedagogical approach. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 33 (S1). pp. 35-38
• Nilsson A, Young L and Croker F (2021) Preparing dental graduates to provide care for frail and care-dependent older patients: an educational intervention. Focus on Health Professional Education, 22 (2). pp. 23-38
• Nilsson A, Young L and Croker F (2019) A call to greater inclusion of gerodontology in the dental curriculum: a narrative review. Australian Dental Journal, 64 (1). pp. 82-89
• Caltabiano M, Croker F, Page L, Sklavos A, Spiteri J, Hanrahan L and Choi R (2018) Dental anxiety in patients attending a student dental clinic. BMC Oral Health, 18 (48).
• Farmer J, Carlisle K, Dickson-Swift V, Teasdale S, Kenny A, Taylor J, Croker F, Marini K and Gussy M (2018) Applying social innovation theory to examine how community co-designed health services develop: using a case study approach and mixed methods. BMC Health Services Research, 18.
• Carlisle K, Larkins S and Croker F (2017) Disparities in dental health of rural Australians: hospitalisation rates and utilisation of public dental services in three communities in North Queensland. Rural and Remote Health, 17 (4). pp. 1-9
• Gair S and Croker F (2007) Missing voices about a foreign place: exploring midwifery practice with midwives who cared for single mothers and babies/or adoption in Queensland (1960-1990). Journal of Interdisciplinary Gender Studies, 10 (2). pp. 56-67
• Tollefson J, Usher K, Croker F and Morrissey J (2003) Creating and delivering an External Bachelor of Nursing Science course. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 40 (1). pp. 51-60
• Stillman G, Alison J and Croker F (1999) Using the World Wide Web to improve medication calculation skills. Innovations in Education & Training International, 36 (1). pp. 17-25
• Stillman G, Alison J, Croker F, Tonkin C and White B (1998) Situated learning as a model for the design of an interactive multimedia program on medication administration for nurses. Innovations in Education & Training International, 35 (4). pp. 329-336

Book Chapters

• Davis S, Croker F and Edelman A (2021) Underpinning development: health and health workforce in Northern Australia. In: Leading From The North: rethinking Northern Australia development. ANU Press, Acton, ACT, Australia, pp. 81-101

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 41+ research outputs authored by Dr Felicity Croker from 1998 onwards.

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.