Paramedic Justin Thomas secured his Bachelors’ Degree in Emergency Medical Care in 2013 at the University of Johannesburg. He received training in both emergency medical care and in medical rescue and disaster management. In 2016, he began working as an Expat Paramedic in Saudi Arabia, employed into an Airport EMS Service. As an EMS Duty Supervisor, he was responsible for the operational organisation of 5 bases across the airport area and for providing medical oversight for EMS calls on his shift.

I was looking to do further study, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. My undergraduate degree was in Environmental Management and I had been working for several years in various government sector policy and stakeholder engagement roles. It was great professional experience, but I wasn’t passionate about what I was doing. I wanted to find a Masters degree where I could build on my current skills, but transfer them into a field that was health and people-centred, particularly focusing on equity and social justice issues.

As I progressed in my career in Medicine and have increasingly taken on clinical leadership and managerial duties, I have become aware of my lack of knowledge and experience as a clinician-manager. I realised that gaining an academic qualification in that field would be extremely valuable, providing tangible benefits to my patients, colleagues, the organisation I work for and for my own personal and professional development.

My main motivation for enrolment in a Master of Public Health at UNSW was my strong interest in public health, as it unites my love of evidence and evaluation with my desire to create sustainable, meaningful change for the better.  I chose to study at the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW in particular because there was a great range of electives to choose from.