[2] Briant gained her medical degree at the University of Otago in 1965, and then worked as a house surgeon and a locum GP in Auckland.

[1][3] Returning to New Zealand after four years in England, Briant worked as a physician at Auckland Hospital, specialising in hypertension, and taught clinical pharmacology.

[2] She worked for Medicines Sans Frontieres in the West Bank and the Gaza strip, in Abkhazia and in Pakistan.

[2] Moving to Wainui Beach in 2006, Briant worked as a physician at Gisborne Hospital and in diabetes and palliative care.

Commemoration Medals were awarded in recognition of the contribution recipients had made to some aspect of New Zealand life.