GradReady Generation Z Scholarship for GAMSAT ^® Courses

Ever since I can remember, I have always been brought up to remain genuine in all my actions. From confronting difficult health challenges to navigating the complexities of relationships or pursuing my passions in science, the compass guiding my journey has consistently pointed toward authenticity. This dedication to genuine expression reflects a commitment to staying true to my convictions, even when faced with the allure of conformity. Moreover, it helps me continue to acknowledge my uncertainties and seek help when needed, all to better understand the human experience. Accordingly, when I am in the midst of tackling professional endeavours or navigating the tapestry of personal relationships, I hope to rely on my authenticity to remain a guiding light.

What drives me is the profound belief that every action, every endeavour, should be infused with purpose and contribute meaningfully to the world. Whether in my personal or professional pursuits, the desire to continuously learn and grow, coupled with a genuine passion for making a difference, acts as the engine that fuels my motivation. In fact, I hope to harness such a desire and use it so I may play a part in shaping a better future, both for myself and for those I have the privilege to impact along the way.

In true ‘Type A planner’ fashion, I have planned out my aspirations for the next two decades with meticulous detail. To save you the effort of reading every step, some key goals are continuing my passion to bridge gaps in healthcare accessibility through my work with the Royal Flying Doctor Service, the Australian Defence Force and eventually within several non-for-profit organisations like Doctors without Borders. Engaging with these organisations is not merely a professional aspiration but a commitment to seeking innovative solutions for those most in need. In fact, these ventures promise to imbue me with an approach to confront the health challenges of our evolving world – a reflection of my heartfelt aspiration to embody the qualities of an altruistic and resilient person.

Aside from completing practice tests to decipher my genuine strengths and limitations, I have been using my free time to read widely. As a fellow bookworm, who is mostly obsessed with contemporary romance novels, I am hoping my love for books will help me enrich my language skills, deepen my understanding of various cultures, and broaden my perspective on the complexities of the human experience. Other than this, rehashing my basic chemistry and biology knowledge has been key, but am I incredibly eager to have GradReady better prepare me in acing the GAMSAT ^® in a strategic manner through their organised workshops and insightful tutors.

I am inclined to think that my brightest feature has always been craving for knowledge. I have always considered education to be my priority, my desire to learn has never been put down regardless of anything – neither of the armed conflict in my region in 2014, which made me pull myself together and become and external student and finish 2 grades of school in 1 year, nor of Russian invasion this year, which made me seek for the opportunities to continue my studies, when my university shut down in February, and come to Australia. The other one is purposefulness. I never wait for everything to be handed on a silver platter, my life motto is “Every man is the artisan of his own fortune”. If I aim at achieving something, it will be so.

What really drives me is the idea that life is unpredictable and you never know what will happen to you tomorrow: you may hit the big time or find out that the war in your country started. Anyway, everything, which does not kill you, makes you stronger. Life is full of chances and those who are searching for them, will always get them.

When I am 41, I would like first to be proud of myself and continue my family’s legacy – becoming a highly regarded and prominent specialist who has been doing her best to save people’s lives. In particular, I hope to be working in refugee camps treating the most unprotected layers of the population, keeping in mind that I was helped when I needed it. I also hope to be conducting medical research in the field of nephrology and win The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine by discovering the most attenuated and effective way of treating and preventing urinary stone disease and contributing greatly to public health.

I found out that I must pass a GAMSAT ^® exam when I started to search for the medical programs that suit me. I have never sat it before and after sitting mock tests online I understood that I needed professional advice. I am extremely thankful for the opportunity, given me by GradReady, and I am sure that after completing the course I will be able to score 90+! I am eager to start a new stage of my life and undertake the things I am really passionate about!

In reflection, my strongest qualities have been my generosity and my congeniality. I try to use both my material resources and time for the betterment of my community, whether that is through making donations or volunteering. Having the ability to connect with new people and build diverse relationships has made my life fundamentally richer and more textured and allowed me to learn about and develop empathy for the multitude of lived experiences.

My commitment to the development of the human project is a big motivator in my life. In recent times it has become more popular to become more nihilistic, misanthropic or just apathetic about humanity’s existence, but I remain committed to building a better Anthropocene. I am not naïve enough to believe that improvement of the lives we lead are innate and inevitable and recognise this will take deliberate and thoughtful action within our collective frameworks.

I hope to develop a variety of clinical and practical skills so that I can be a multidisciplinary practitioner. In 20 years, I am looking forward to engaging in global health issues and be involved in both the implementation of evidence-based strategies and the development of these empirical approaches. I am also deeply cognisant this will require building greater cultural competence and understanding how to integrate health strategies into existing structures and institutions that exist in a community.

Up until this point, I have researched the exam’s schedule, its structure and have explored some resources in preparation for the test. I have spoken to peers, both who have and have not been successful in their GAMSAT ^® attempts, to develop perspectives about what is required to do well in the test. My next steps include diving further into GAMSAT ^® preparation materials, including those generously provided by GradReady, and working collaboratively with like-minded peers in trying to build skills for GAMSAT ^® success.

Empathy, Integrity, Resilience, Curiosity & Kindness. These are 5 qualities I consciously try to consistently work on and demonstrate throughout all areas of my life, because I’ve learnt how important they are for me through all the highs and lows that come with experiencing life.

My privileges and hope.My grandparents were refugees and survivors of the 1947 war between India and Pakistan. They started from scratch, and worked incredibly hard to ensure all their siblings and children had an education and food on the table. My parents did the same for us. They started from scratch as they migrated to Kuwait, Oman and then Australia with no family or friends, very little savings, just so that my brother and I could have a better education and quality of life than they did. I only have the privilege of writing this right now, because of the sacrifices made by the generations before me - it’s something I never take for granted. Being aware and grateful for the privileges that I’m given, drives me to make sure I make the most of the opportunities presented to me.Hope is an airy fairy concept that drives me. The world can sometimes feel like a dark place full of never-ending challenges from inequity, a pandemic, poverty, unemployment and what feels like unfair events in life. What drives me through those really challenging moments is the little moments of kindness, joy and serendipity. When a stranger shouts you a coffee without expecting anything in return, when a baby smiles so big that you can’t help but smile back even when you’re going through so much pain and when a stranger changes your life through one conversation in the best kind of way. Hope for a better world with so much light through being grateful for these little moments, drives me through the dark days.

In 20 years time I want to have played a part in closing the inequitable gap that comes with access to healthcare in developing communities, more specifically in women’s health. It’s a big complex problem, so how I get there is still one I’m figuring out, but I will figure it out hopefully before 20 years from today. My grandfather always said - if there’s a will, there’s a way, and it’s something that has always motivated me on my moonshot thinking missions.

My Gamsat journey has been an adventure. Some days I get really insecure, doubt my intellect, my ability to do well enough to get into a university or even be a good doctor. On those days, I remind myself that how I choose to get through this journey of uncertainty and self-doubt is the test on the kind of doctor I will be, and that really brings perspective and motivation to get through this.

Sometimes I wish I hadn’t had to consistently display resilience and courage but I’m sure it’s shaped a large part of who I am and my story so far. More than anything else though, as I look back on my life to date, I see that my work and decisions revolved around compassion based servitude and generosity. In the midst of all of my endeavours I am told I exude enthusiasm, curiosity and openness. It makes sense to me because I have always had a genuine deep love of people from all walks of life and a fairly insatiable desire to understand and learn from them and perhaps to contribute to their lives too.

I think I’m predominantly driven by hope – for humans and the planet. Time and again I’ve witnessed and been inspired by the remarkable capacity of some humans to endure hardship and continue in the face of adversity, finding joy along the way. Subconsciously, I guess I emulate that and live in light of it. I want to see people flourishing and full of hope.

It’s difficult to say where I’ll be in twenty years, or indeed what any of us will be doing. My hope is that I’ll be making a meaningful impact in the area of Indigenous health and wellbeing, working alongside others in the pursuit of equality and justice - but whatever my capacity is, I will continue living and working in a way that seeks to honour and uphold the humanity and dignity of people struggling with ill health and disadvantage.

Truth be told, I have been pretty intimated by the cost and the process of the GAMSAT ^® and I had let that hold me back until recently. It has taken a while to work up the courage to give it a go and I plan to make the absolute most of the journey, whatever the outcome.

Throughout my life I believe I have demonstrated some key qualities both during times of hardship & in more relaxed times. These qualities are resilience, compassion, adaptability, compartmentalization, high work ethic & a strong desire to see people happy.Throughout my early life up until 4 years ago I lived in Iraq, being in Iraq is always different for different people but being a Christian in a somewhat hostile community brought its own problems. Many people in Iraq were lovely people and a pleasure to know but a small few upon finding out about my faith issued threats of violence upon my family. This caused my family to move around more than most and if I wasn’t resilient and adaptable then I probably wouldn’t have come out of the situation as I have now still having faith in the future. This could also draw strongly on my ability to compartmentalize as I don’t let my past negatively affect my desires for the future.

After my family fled from Iraq into Jordan due to the threat from ISIS we spent 2 years awaiting notification from one of the many countries that we issued a refugee application with. During this time, I became involved with a volunteer group in Jordan as I saw all the pain and suffering around me and I wanted to help anyway I possibly could. I was involved with explaining prescriptions to people as often they were given in English or a limited form of Arabic which many couldn’t properly understand. I did this as I wanted to see other refugees be happy and receive the best treatment possible. Additionally, one of the times which I was able to best show all the qualities listed above was during my time in Jordan when I also volunteered in a child care program. Seeing the children there who had lost the innocence of childhood was so painful to see, often as they had lost all they had held dear and sometimes witnessed death at such a young age. I compartmentalized my own problems at the time and did my absolute best to bring joy back into the life of those young children.

When I got to Australia my life was back on track but many years being lost due to being a refugee. I was confident that I could adapt to this new culture here in Australia and continue towards my ambitions of becoming a doctor which could help bring happiness and minimize the pain which others feel. I believe that my life has been led by an amalgamation of my key qualities and without all of them working simultaneously I wouldn’t be the person I am today who still strives to become a doctor.

I believe a major driving force behind me is both my faith as well as an incredibly strong desire to help other people experience the happiest life they can.

In 20 years I hope to have successfully completed my medical doctorate. From there I am open to many possibilities, but I hope to be either a haematologist or a general practitioner. I hope to have helped many people and to have seen my work have a meaningful impact on the lives of many around me.

My GAMSAT ^® journey so far is quite short, I have spent time looking into the GAMSAT ^® and the more I look into it the less prepared I have felt. Due to this I decided to only attempt the GAMSAT ^® once I feel that I am adequately prepared for it which is why I am so excited for the GradReady program as I believe it is the best way for someone like me to come to the GAMSAT ^® fully prepared for all it has in store.

Some of the key qualities I’ve demonstrated are resilience, communication skills, compassion, empathy, leadership, adaptability and problem-solving abilities.

I have consistently displayed resilience in many aspects of my life. I have faced a great deal of adversity which has challenged me in many ways, however I have always been able to overcome any obstacles and make the best of all tough and challenging situations with my optimistic nature and dedication. I became a young single mother in my final year of high school and was still able to achieve high academic results and became one the youngest people ever to be accepted into the Bachelor's degree of Paramedic Science at Flinders University.

The experiences I have had in my personal life and my career have helped me to relate to a diverse variety of people with ease. I find it easy to empathise with people and communicate effectively with people of all diversities and backgrounds. I believe that genuinely understanding people without judgement is integral to building rapport and creating meaningful relationships with patients. Thus, communication is a key quality that I entail and demonstrate in all aspects of life, and one that I endeavour to demonstrate in my future medical career.

My compassion and empathy towards people is a quality that stands out and is foundational to my personality. Having taken on many caring roles in my personal life and in my career, has lead me to become more kind, caring and considerate of others’ needs. I always make it a priority to treat everyone equally and with the dignity they deserve.

Through my undergraduate university degree, I displayed my leadership abilities by volunteering as a Firefighter with the Country Fire Service, and as an Ambulance Responder with SA Ambulance Service. I also mentored students of varying year levels in primary/secondary schools, and began mentoring first year Paramedic students in my final year of university. In my roles in the emergency services I refined my adaptability, as I was often faced with challenging situations and unreliable environments that I had to adapt to efficiently. I had to adapt to the teams of people I worked with, some of which I didn’t know particularly well. Building relationships with team members was integral to performing at a high standard, and thus it was important to display and apply a high level of adaptability in my roles.

Lastly, I am a natural problem-solver. I have a very analytical and lateral way of thinking about situations and problems, and as such I am consistently ‘thinking outside the box’ when ascertaining the best solution to a problem. In the time that I was involved with SA Ambulance Service, I would have to treat patients in the prehospital environment effectively and efficiently with very little resources. This meant that I had to brainstorm solutions and implement suitable treatment pathways quickly and under pressure.

There are many things that drive my passion for medicine, however, I am predominantly driven by my desire to help the community and contribute to the field of medicine. Having grown up in rural South Australia, I understand the issues many Australians living in rural regions experience, and as such I am driven by my own experiences to make a difference in rural medicine. My background in Paramedicine also motivated my interest in researching and making alterations to prehospital practice, particularly aeromedical rescue and retrievalist operations. Having worked and volunteered for the state ambulance service has given me sound knowledge of the importance of prehospital care and how this results in better patient outcomes.

In addition, my personal experiences with adversity drive me to take a more holistic approach to medicine, taking into account the psychosocial dynamics of healthcare. I genuinely endeavour to make a difference in the lives of everyday people by providing them with the best possible patient care.

In the next 20 years, I hope to have successfully completed my Medical Doctorate, as well as specialist training. I want to specialise in the field of psychiatry and work collaboratively in rural indigenous communities. I would also like to spend a proportion of my career working in aeromedical rescue and retrieval, with the intent of making a difference in prehospital care.

In addition, I hope to have completed revolutionary research in the field of rural and indigenous health that subsequently, has a substantial impact on future rural medical practice.

In early 2016 I completed the GAMSAT ^® test, only falling a few points short of a ‘passing’ score. After studying for months beforehand, I was devastated to say the least. However, I was motivated to put in the effort to attempt the test again and ultimately improve my score. I kept reminding myself that ‘without failure - there is no success’, and I refused to give up on my dream of pursuing Medicine. I will be attempting the GAMSAT ^® again in March 2018, and I know I will achieve a more desirable score this time (with the help of Gradready tutoring!). I am extremely grateful to be receiving the Gradready Millennials scholarship, as this will be immensely beneficial in helping me achieve a better score. When I attain my preferred score, I will be applying for a Flinders University rural/regional program in 2019.

From an early age I've had many different interests. Growing up in Alice Springs, sport became a huge part of my life, and cricket was eventually the sport that took over all the others. After moving to boarding school in Adelaide to pursue cricket further, I was lucky enough to find myself representing South Australia in the national Future's League competition in my first year of University. Since then, I've had to balance cricket commitments with university, as well as working as a resident assistant and Indigenous mentor at a secondary school. All the while working towards my aspirations to help people in areas of poverty and disaster. Through a passion for all of these interests paired with perseverance and discipline, I've been able to succeed in each of these pursuits, and these qualities are what I hope will bring me similar success in studying medicine.

Having a passion for Indigenous education from my experiences in Alice Springs, working as an Indigenous student mentor in Adelaide has been an incredibly rewarding experience. Yet in my eyes there were drastic improvements that could be made to my School's current program. This year I was lucky enough to win a fellowship from the school in order to rewrite the Indigenous education program with the hope to increase the wellbeing of students and achieve greater success in closing the gap in educational outcomes.

During 2015 I found myself in Nepal during the devastating earthquake that shook the country to its knees. Within this tragic situation I realised why I'd always been drawn to a career in medicine. I found myself completely helpless to help all those in need in any significant way. The experience of seeing doctors being able to help all those who'd been devastated in the wake of the tragedy opened my eyes to the fact that in matters of life and death, being a doctor is one of the most meaningful ways to help people when they need it most.

From my different experiences around the world, I've learnt that we are all extremely lucky to live in a country like Australia. We have opportunities here that are a privilege, and I feel as though it is up to us to help those in need that find themselves in situations of disadvantage; whether that be abroad or on our own doorstep. My passion for helping others, and discipline and perseverance to constantly pursue success, are qualities that I hope will lead me to be successful in making the most of these opportunities, and help those who need it most through a career in medicine.

An innate desire to push myself to achieve my full potential and not waste any opportunities, has driven me to strive for success in everything I do. Being from a refugee family that arrived in Australia in the 1970s, my family's sheer hard work allowed them, and eventually myself, to have opportunities that are an absolute privilege, not a right, such as studying at university and pursuing what interests me with freedom. My grandparents' unbelievable hard work inspires me to push myself every day to make the most of these opportunities that I have been lucky enough to be given.

In 20 years I hope to be established as a registered specialist in emergency medicine or a general surgeon. I hope that I'd have helped those patients in rural and remote areas of Australia and impoverished areas of the world. I aspire to work for Doctors without Borders in disaster zones and areas of extreme poverty, and in the healthcare of refugees, who desperately need greater support. Having seen first-hand the discrepancies between major centres and the rural communities of Australia from a healthcare perspective, I also aspire to become a leader in reducing this inequality through working in these areas and ensuring they are not forgotten by the rest of the medical community.

2017 will be my first attempt at the GAMSAT ^® exam. I began studying with Gradready in late July of this year. I've learnt an immense amount so far, and from here on in I need to stay on task and keep working on improving my weaknesses, to feel as if come March 2017 I've given it all I've got, and hopefully that will be enough to allow me to pursue tuition at the medical school of my choice.

My childhood was consumed by a passion for dance. This reached a pinnacle at age 14 when I took the initiative to move away from home to study ballet in Sydney fulltime. During this time I completed my academic years 9 and 10 via correspondence however upon completion of year 10, I was required to choose between ballet and academics. Knowing that I would always be able to return to study and that a dancing career would not offer the same luxuries, I chose ballet. I was determined to achieve my aspiration of gaining fulltime employment with a ballet company within the next few years. Following several setbacks and moments that truly tested my desire and resilience, I achieved my goal and was accepted to join the Queensland Ballet Company. Like most of my successes in life, I predominantly attribute this success to tenacity and perseverance; two qualities I believe I have consistently demonstrated throughout my life and qualities I believe will allow me to be successful in future endeavours.

In 2011, after a successful 4­years fulltime employment with the Queensland Ballet Company, I fractured my spine and suffered from other associated complications forcing my retirement. Having immersed myself in the world of dance since age 3, I was unsure as to what my next career direction should be. Determined to not let this injury define me, I contacted universities and TAFE, attended meetings with academic advisors and course coordinators, attended mature age entry workshops and information seminars, and sat several exams that eventually resulted in me completing the Adult Tertiary Preparation course at TAFE. Due to the initiative I demonstrated during this crossroads, I am now nearing the end of my undergraduate degree and about to embark on a journey that I am sure will once again test my resilience, tenacity and perseverance­ my journey to medicine.

I have lived a very exciting and full life that has provided me with more opportunities and experiences than most people my age. I have travelled the world and achieved many of my dreams but have also experienced times of hardship, sickness and non­successes. I have learnt that sickness is horribly scary, and as a patient you completely and whole­heartedly entrust your health with your doctor. Because of these experiences I have grown to believe that becoming a doctor is a vocation that if carried out with empathy and selflessness, can allow you to have a meaningful and positive impact on the lives of others, a vocation I believe would be immensely rewarding. It is this gratification that I feel is driving me to be successful in my future aspirations of being a doctor.

In 20 years time I hope to have achieved my registration as a medical specialist. I hope to have positively impacted the lives of many patients and their families and I hope to have accomplished this by adopting a more holistic approach than is commonly utilised by current medical practitioners. Further to this, coming from a regional town in New South Wales, I have experienced the divide in accessibility to specialist medical care between rural and metropolitan areas and as such, hope to contribute to bridging this gap in years to come.

I have sat the GAMSAT ^® exam once before and although I achieved a mark higher than I had anticipated, it was still not high enough for me to progress through to the interview stage of the application process. I walked out of the exam, not so much daunted by the process, but more eager to begin studying for the next exam, as I believed furthering my essay writing skills and increasing my knowledge of chemistry could improve my score.

I critically think about situations that I come across, which allows me to understand the reasons behind them and brainstorm ideas on how to improve the way in which things could be done next time. I have a creative side and thrive on coming up with new ideas. I've inherited my parents' generosity, kindness and mathematical brain, which has me naturally learning towards community service and finding problems to fix.

I have applied these qualities through leadership roles in work, sport and volunteering. Currently, I am involved in the establishment of a research facility within a retirement village, focussing on healthy ageing initiatives, including Dementia prevention. This facility not only contributes essential research data toward dementia prevention, but by through its location within a retirement village we are also bridging the gap between research outcomes and clinical practice in the ageing community. As this is a new research centre, we are doing the best we can to establish funding. We need to exercise our resourcefulness constantly to get what we need done, especially amidst our current $1.5 million dementia prevention clinical trial.

I show initiative in all aspects of my life. I am a big believer in team-work and love team sport. My sport of choice for the past 5 years has been roller derby. l was lucky enough to progress to Team Australia try outs last year. Currently, I am founding a Roller Hockey league in Sydney and have organised a large group of skaters, coaches, the venue hire and training sessions. I saw the need for Roller Hockey in Sydney so I used my skills to help begin the budding of the sport in my town. Whilst a member of my Roller Derby league I questioned why we did not have an established first-aid committee for such a dangerous high contact sport and such a large group of skaters, sitting just under 100 people skating. I am now head of first-aid for the league and have established policy and protocol surrounding injuries, guided a group of twenty first-aid officers and facilitated their training and ongoing safety development through workshops where visitors are invited to present.

I am constantly open to developing new qualities and continuously gaining insight and knowledge from new experiences. I am looking forward to the world of medicine combined with research where I will never stop learning and never stop being fascinated and humbled by the human body and mind.

I feel fulfilled when I see gaps in processes or problems that need fixing and then successfully getting them fixed. I enjoy possessing skills that can fix problems. I enjoy contributing to projects, organisations and the community. I love to be inspired, as this is when l have the most energy. People inspire me - everyone has a story and develops into their own complicated self. The human body is a complicated array of processes that can go wrong, I love that I will never know everything in medicine and science and that I will constantly be learning and building on my knowledge.

Currently, there is a lack of holistic care in medicine and a lack of translation from research outcomes to medical practice. Using my initiative, resourcefulness and ingenuity I am hoping to become a doctor and open a brain health clinic where patients will be treated and can connect with specialists in every field. I hope to help bridge many gaps in medicine through my own multi-functional clinic. Although the focus will be on the brain, this encompasses many fields such as nutrition, exercise, mental health, paediatrics, neonatal care, ageing, naturopathy, surgery and research - I want to encourage a collaborative approach to medicine and research. I also hope to use my qualifications and skills to contribute to disadvantaged communities, nationally and internationally, and use my leadership skills to guide and teach.