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A World of Opportunity
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I do not call myself a scientist, yet the field has enabled me to have some
wonderful experiences, and has afforded me many opportunities.
Not entirely satisfied having completed a Bachelor of Science in Biology and
Pharmacology at The University of Auckland, I ventured down to Victoria
University of Wellington to study a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration,
majoring in E-commerce. While I loved pharmacology, the second degree came more
naturally to me – I am still not sure whether that was due to the curriculum or
the fact that I had then learned the art of studying. Regardless, having
survived my student years on an international flight attendant ‘temp’ salary
earned during the summer holidays and by working in the e-business department of
Westpac, I set out to find a job across the Tasman, in which I could combine the
two disciplines I had studied.
Five months after landing at Sydney airport and moving to Bondi Beach (‘with all
the other Kiwis’) a friend suggested pharmaceutical ‘repping’. There it was, the
perfect way to launch a career that tickled my commercial fancy without wasting
those three years of science education. And, as it turned out, a wonderful way
to catch a glimpse of various parts of Australia.
The job began with six weeks of fairly intensive training, which much to my
excitement, took place in Melbourne. Of course, many hours were spent indoors,
studying disease states and drug mechanisms of action, during which time I was
grateful for my pharmacology major, but there was also plenty of opportunity to
soak up Melbourne’s plentiful culture in the weekends.
The time came to take my newly acquired knowledge and delve into the job itself.
Feeling fairly green, I plunged head first into medical centres throughout
Sydney’s southeast – from Rockdale, through Sutherland Shire, down to Engadine –
and began to feel confident that I had been trained well, ‘knew my stuff ’, and
could do my best to provide a service to general practice whilst talking
product. The 6-weekly country trips gave me the opportunity to intimately
explore small towns in the south-west of New South Wales, such as beautiful
Tumut, peaceful Goulburn and busy, proud Wagga Wagga.
With a change in territory I had the so-called ‘misfortune’ of having to drive 8
hours to my country patch – but who could complain about having to work in Coffs
Harbour? While I won’t pretend there weren’t difficult times, and the odd door
closed in my unfamiliar face (I was in sales, remember), with time this job gave
me the opportunity to build rewarding relationships with healthcare
professionals working in very different, though always very demanding
environments.
Fifteen months on, I was given the opportunity to move into a Trainee Associate
Project Management role in the Medical Information Department in Melbourne.
While this meant leaving my boyfriend and many friends behind in Sydney, I felt
it was a chance not to be missed.
For me the highlight of this role has been the management of a clinical research
project involving 350 general practitioners and approximately 4000 of renal
impairment in patients with type 2 diabetes and seeing their GP. This has
involved working with experts in the field, with the common aim of highlighting
areas of need for education and optimising patient care, which has been a
privilege as well as fun, inspiring, and rewarding.
To co-author clinical papers with a lead author for whom I hold much respect and
admiration is an honour not many people of my limited education/scientific
status can claim to have had. Additionally, the project has involved travelling
to Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland to discuss the findings
with specialists and key opinion leaders and to see the results presented at
medical congresses – and I have loved every minute.
As a woman in science, I have faced some challenges (that’s life, isn’t it?),
but I prefer to focus on the many opportunities I have been given that would not
have been possible had I not chosen my first degree. In my opinion, the most
important of these has been the chance to meet many dedicated, brilliant people
striving to make a difference through science.