It was her own health issues that led Sydney Ma to study medicine at Flinders University.
Sydney knows what it’s like to receive the right health care at the right time. As a child, she suffered with severe gall bladder and stomach problems, which resulted in her developing a fascination with biology and how our bodies work.
She has now channelled that fasciation into her building a solid future for herself in the world of medicine.
Today, she is a self-motivated student who jumped at the chance to study at Flinders after hearing about the hands-on, student focused nature of the biology and science programs.
“Flinders Medical School was the first university to introduce the four year Doctor of Medicine graduate entry program,” she says. “Medicine at Flinders, unlike most other medical schools, is very hands-on as we get to experience clinical settings from the first year of MD (doctor of medicine). Also, the two years of clinical science before we enter MD allows us to build our knowledge in biology and to enter MD with the confidence we need to proceed onto the next stage of learning.
“The great amount of support we receive and the small class sizes allow our learning to be much more student focused, collaborative and easy to comprehend.”
Sydney lives on campus at the student village and says the support from residential tutors has also been invaluable.
“They are extremely helpful in helping us manage personal problems as well as planning fun activities for us to relax after stressful uni days,” she says.
After graduation, Sydney hopes to specialise in emergency medicine, working in both regional communities and city based hospitals.
“I want to use all my skills and learnings to help as many people as possible, just like the doctors helped me when I was growing up,” she says.
