Scholarships support global perspectives for future doctors

“While medical services in Australia can always do with more resources, it’s not every week a blackout occurs during an operation in a surgical theatre, creating the risk of bleeding as equipment fails.” 

Garang Dut is reflecting on a dramatic experience at St Stephen’s Hospital in Delhi, India, where he spent four weeks completing a medical elective as part of his Doctor of Medicine course. 

The elective reinforced what Mr Dut already knew, having spent 12 years of his childhood in an African refugee camp: that the disparities between healthcare in Australia and developing countries are vast. 

“The high prevalence of tropical diseases among the population visiting St Stephen’s reminded me of a medical frontier yet to be won,” he says. 

“I felt I was getting to experience healthcare provision where it was most needed, in a holistic manner, which reminded me of the reasons I wanted to study medicine initially.” 

Mr Dut’s experience typifies one of the University of Melbourne’s proudest claims: that it educates doctors with experience that stretches across continents. 

Many students from the Melbourne Medical School are gaining new insights from international learning experiences, many of them supported by funded scholarships. 

Joining Mr Dut in Delhi was fellow Ormond College resident and Victorian Medical Insurance Agency Limited (VMIAL) scholarship recipient Nick Hughes, who is also passionate about medicine. 

During the elective, Mr Hughes spent a number of weeks accompanying a local doctor throughout various locations within the northern slums of Delhi, as part of a community health program. 

Travelling in the back of an ambulance, the pair treated patients who wouldn’t have made it to a doctor’s office otherwise. 

“It certainly was an eye-opening experience for me,” Mr Hughes says. 

“But I was more surprised by the resounding similarities in their approach to healthcare, rather than the differences. I realised even with limited resources, the skills you require to be a good doctor are universal. Seeing how kind, empathetic and competent the doctors were showed me how effective a good doctor can be,” he says. 

The elective provided both students an opportunity to see medical care in a resource-poor setting – a far cry from metropolitan Melbourne. 

And they have little doubt their experiences will help shape them into the doctors they will soon become. 

Fellow medical student Jayne Moxey hopes to gain equally valuable – albeit quite different – experience when she travels to Oxford University this July. 

Ms Moxey will undertake a four-week elective placement there, focusing on her chosen field of rheumatology, an area in which she hopes to one day specialise.

“On a personal level, several members of my extended family are affected by systemic rheumatic diseases, so I have particular interest in managing patients with autoimmune rheumatic conditions,” she says. 

“This placement will provide an outstanding opportunity to learn from international specialists in rheumatology, and to foster professional relationships with the potential for future collaborations.” 

Ms Moxey was notified earlier this year she would receive the June Howqua Prize, which is financing her placement at Oxford. 

“The prize covers the cost of my flights, accommodation and living expenses. I am honored to receive the award, and am greatly appreciative of the financial support it provides,” she says.

Ms Moxey’s elective at Oxford will be worlds apart from her classmates’ experiences in Delhi, however, each of these students typifies the new breed of globally-minded medical professionals who, together with the University, are committed to broadening educational experiences beyond the Parkville precinct. 

The end product? World-class doctors who will support health into the future. 

www.medicine.unimelb.edu.au 

futurestudents.unimelb.edu.au/admissions/scholarships