9 minute read
Health & Medical Sciences
Cutting-edge careers If you have a passion for improving people’s lives, health and medical sciences have a rewarding, exciting career waiting for you
The health industry is Australia’s leading employer, with more than 1.8 million employees. It’s also the fastest-growing sector in the country, projected to increase to more than two million by 2025. What’s more, according to the ATO, five of the six highestpaying professions in Australia are in health and medical science. Money isn’t why most people go into health careers though – they’re driven by a desire to help people.
A career in health and medical science could see you at the athletics track assisting sportspeople reach their goals. It might lead you to the lab, researching and curing diseases. You could practise psychology and support people with mental health issues, or become an entrepreneur, developing new medical equipment and devices. – Ben Skuse
IRL revelations
At QUT, researchers are using their passion and expertise to make groundbreaking discoveries.
Predicting cancer progress In 2020, a team from QUT’s School of Biomedical Sciences found specific abnormalities in cancer cells that could one day predict how a patient’s cancer will progress and respond to drugs. A huge headache Another team from the QUT Centre for Genomics and Personalised Health has discovered the genetic causes of migraine.
Detecting heart attack risk
Professor Zhiyong Li, from the QUT Centre for Biomedical Technologies and the QUT School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering, leads the development of a heart software tool to help detect risk.
Dorcas Tuyishimere is gaining a career advantage by studying a double degree in Nursing and psychology
If you think your study should give you real-world experiences, it doesn’t get better than practising nursing in the Clinical Simulation Centre at QUT. The Centre gives health sciences students the opportunity to work with simulated patients in a clinical setting. Want even more of an edge? You can also combine nursing with psychology, like fourthyear student Dorcas, who is completing her Bachelor of Nursing along with a Bachelor of Behavioural Science (Psychology) – a seriously awesome combo. Her dream job is to work as a mental health nursing practitioner. “In my psychology degree, I have engaged in counselling practice and skills, as well as curating data using statistics software,” she says. “My studies have helped me understand that there are many areas of nursing that I can work in”
dorcas tuyishimere nursing & psychology student
Career goals
Real-world experience matters Dorcas says the amazing facilities at QUT really help provide experience for when students go out on placements in the workforce. “The centre is reflective of an operational hospital room, where you practise with real equipment and the latest technology,” she says. Dorcas is now working through her nursing placement and looking forward to graduating next year with dual skills from her two degrees. Studying in STEM provides an opportunity to learn about and research a diverse range of topics. Dorcas’ advice is to take the opportunity to get involved at uni and be active in your studies: “These activities will inspire you.” – Heather Catchpole
Bachelor of Behavioural Science (Psychology) / Bachelor of Nursing, QUT
Year 12, All Hallows’ School
HEALTH AND MEDICAL SCIENCE + STUDY
Bachelor of
Behavioural Science (Psychology)
Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours)
Bachelor of
Radiation Therapy
Bachelor of Medical Imaging (Honours)
Bachelor of
Biomedical Science
Bachelor of
Science Advanced
(Honours) (Physics)
Bachelor of
Engineering
(Honours) (Medical)
HEALTH AND MEDICAL SCIENCE + JOBS
Psychologist $61K–$121K
Pharmacist $58K–$90K
Radiation therapist
$54K–$118K
Pathologist $44K–$228K
Medical engineer
$65K–$85K
Medical physicist
$69K–$186K*
*Source: salaries according payscale.com and glassdoor.com.au
Bachelor of Medical Imaging (Honours), QUT
zoe gibbs medical imaging (honours) student
Year 12, Clayfield College
X marks the spot
Her own diagnosis inspired Zoe Gibbs to want to become a radiographer and treat people, as part of an allied health team
Zoe always had an interest in STEM, but her passion was really sparked in Year 9, when she was diagnosed with scoliosis. At the time, she had to go to lots of medical appointments, which included getting X-rays. Today, 13 of her vertebrae are fused with titanium rods and screws. “I’m basically a bionic woman!” she jokes. Zoe’s almost completed her Bachelor of Medical Imaging (Honours) at QUT. After graduating, she’ll become a radiographer and help other patients who need X-rays, computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.
Getting practical At uni, she takes tutorials with real-world professionals and does practical sessions at the Medical Imaging Laboratory on campus. She’s also completed several placements, including at the Queensland Children’s Hospital. “The incredible variety of people and injuries you have the opportunity to interact with is so enjoyable, and I love thinking on my feet,” Zoe says. Zoe’s dream is to work in the Queensland public healthcare system: “I want to be there for people on what is likely the worst day of their life, and not just help them clinically, but also emotionally.” – Kim Thomson
Pick your health or medical science degree
Alongside exciting research pushing health and medical science forward, QUT offers a range of courses that are the ideal launch pad for a rewarding career in clinical practice, public health or health science. Providing the best, most industry-relevant and most up-to-date practical training, there are degrees focused on training for specific careers and degrees offering knowledge and experience that translate to a wide range of roles. For example, if you want to become a radiation therapist, the QUT Bachelor of Radiation Therapy offers professional placements from your first year and gives you access to virtualreality (VR) 3D tech. Or do a Bachelor of Medical
Imaging (Honours), which leads to a career as a radiographer – also known as a medical imaging technologist – and work with specialist equipment on campus. Think: X-ray machines.
The Bachelor of Biomedical Science offers great career flexibility. You can shape the course to suit your interests and career aspirations, and help to solve challenges in health areas like genomics and infectious disease.
If tech is your thing, explore degrees like the Bachelor of Science Advanced (Honours) (Physics) and
Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)
(Medical). They introduce you to important aspects of cutting-edge health and medical tech.
zoe robinson pharmacist Zoe Robinson didn’t plan on becoming a pharmacist, but her passion for helping people sparked a career switch Pharma fan club!
When you think of a pharmacist, you may picture someone behind the counter at your local chemist. But did you know pharmacists work at lots of other places too? Zoe is an intern pharmacist in a hospital and she says there are numerous jobs in the pharmaceutical field. “Throughout the pandemic, pharmacists have been manufacturing and administering COVID-19 vaccines – a role which would not have been anticipated only a few years ago,” she says. Jump in a new direction Zoe didn’t plan on a career in STEM – she originally went to uni to study a business degree. That changed when, after working in a small suburban pharmacy, she realised she was passionate about helping others. It’s a career change that’s worked out: Zoe has now successfully completed her Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) at QUT and even won National Pharmacy Student of the Year in 2021. “If you are passionate about STEM, believe in yourself and dream big!” Zoe says. – Kim Thomson
Hands-on health
QUT health and medical science courses emphasise real-world practice and hands-on learning. Practical placements in hospital and community settings start early in your degree. For the Bachelor
of Pharmacy (Honours),
students learn in purposebuilt pharmacy practice rooms and state-of-the-art labs. The Bachelor of
Medical Imaging
(Honours) and Bachelor
of Radiation Therapy
degrees give students the opportunity to be immersed in realistic virtual training environments to develop fundamental skills. And if you opt for a Bachelor of Biomedical Science, you will be in the lab from week one, working on real biomedical and scientific problems throughout the course.
Beams of hope Natalie Peck is using virtual-reality radiation therapy systems to learn how to treat people with cancer
Bachelor of RadiationTherapy, QUT natalie peck radiation therapy student
Certificate III in Hospitality, CTA Training Specialists
BEN ASHMOLE
Year 12, Ferny GroveState High School
When she becomes a radiation therapist, Natalie will use powerful X-ray beams to kill tumours and cancer cells in her patients. Natalie will eventually work with a team of radiation therapists and doctors using CT scanners to create treatment plans and help decide the right radiation dosage to give each patient. Right now, in her Bachelor of Radiation Therapy at QUT, Natalie’s learning how to give treatments by using some cool tech – like the linear accelerator. “This is the main machine used to treat tumours in cancer patients using external beams of radiation,” Natalie explains. Virtual-reality (VR) 3D technology immerses students in a virtual environment with life-sized radiation therapy equipment and even virtual patients to learn with and study on! “I found it amazing that, from Gardens Point campus, I could do everything that is done in a typical hospital treatment room,” Natalie says.
Skills all round
As well as the technical side of things, communicating with people is also essential for her future job, so Natalie’s also learning how to provide emotional support to patients during their cancer journey. “My goal is to be part of a professional team making a difference in people’s lives,” she says. Natalie says a career in STEM “just made sense” to her, but she’s learnt a lot about healthcare along the way. – Kim Thomson
Engineers can make a difference.
QUT is committed to growing the number of graduating female engineers and to fostering the view of engineering as a career of choice for women.
Kate is studying a double degree in engineering and science at QUT. She is also the QUT GEMS (Gender Equity in Engineering Makes Sense) Vice-President. ‘Although engineers are stereotypically very nerdy, engineering is actually inherently social as collaboration is a key part of the role. This combination of technical and social spheres of impact is why I believe that engineers can make a difference as we are capable of creating change in many different ways throughout society.’ Kate is just one of our students making a difference in the engineering. Find out more at qut.edu.au/engineering
