The curiosity of my academic and professional pursuits

One thing that I find a little intriguing, given the nature of my current situation, is the academic and professional path I have found myself on. When I was a child, I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up. As I made my way though High School and even University, I didn't really know either. I studied Science and Maths as that is what I was good at and what I enjoyed, and ended up with a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology even though I knew by then that I didn't want to be a Microbiologist. I learned about cell biology, genetics, bacteria and viruses, and a bit about cancer. This prompted an interest in Health which lead me to post graduate study in Public Health. I learned about the health of populations, health risks and health statistics. Now I am one of them.

In my professional career I have been a Health Researcher, where I learned more than most people will ever know about the effectiveness and side effects of certain pain relief drugs (of which I have now tried many). I worked with ACC Treatment Injury and Medical Misadventure data for several years where I learned the names of just about every medical procedure under the sun and what could go wrong with them. I learned terminology I never thought I would come across again. Now I am surrounded by it.

In recent years I worked with the National Data Collections at the Ministry of Health where (amongst other things) I extracted data from the Cancer Registry for researchers to analyse. I'm in there too.

And now, I work for the Cancer Team at the Ministry of Health. My current role enables me to feel like I am making a real difference to others who are also affected by cancer whilst still utilising my health and data skills and experience. At times I step back and wonder how this all came about. 

Til next time....