Before joining the PhD program, Tewodros worked for seven years as an assistant lecturer, lecturer, and assistant professor at the School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences and Medicine, Wolaita Sodo University, Ethiopia. He currently works as a Data Analyst at the NSW Health COVID-19 Public Health Response Branch.

Why did you join the UNSW School of Population Health?

I was motivated to join the UNSW PhD program because of the school’s leading global reputation, its high-profile supervisors, and its scholarship opportunities.

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.