Science Careers

Now

Rebecca is a Pharmacist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and plays a vital role in helping patients with their medications.

“As the population continues to age, there are more and more people with a number of medical conditions all requiring treatment. People are also increasingly having these conditions managed by a number of different doctors and specialists. Pharmacists are able to ensure that there are no interactions between these medicines and give patients valuable advice on managing their medications.”

Then

Rebecca really enjoyed chemistry and biology in high school and decided to double her opportunities by pairing studies in pharmaceutical science with pharmacy. Relocating from Darwin to pursue the double degree which is unique in Australia, Rebecca quickly realised the benefits an added year of study would offer.

“The double degree provides a broader range of knowledge about medications; from their discovery and development through to what information patients need to know about their medications. It also made me more aware of the vast array of career options I could pursue.”

Awarded SA/NT 2014 Pharmacy Student of the Year by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia was a highlight for Rebecca, as well as her final year 8-week placement at the Repatriation General Hospital.

“While on placement I was able to practice applying my theoretical knowledge to real cases. This also gave me a great insight into what a hospital pharmacist does on a daily basis. Shadowing an excellent clinical pharmacist and seeing what she did on a day to day basis cemented in my mind not only that I wanted to be a pharmacist, but that I wanted to be a clinical pharmacist.”

Learn more about the Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours)

Now

Chelsea is a Research Assistant within UniSA’s Sansom Institute for Health Research, working on projects which directly help the medical community and cancer patients.

“One of the main reasons I wanted to get into scientific research, was for the potential to make a difference and to add knowledge to the scientific community as a whole. My daily tasks include providing support to researchers in the laboratory by running experiments for projects, and researching scientific papers to help advance knowledge or design research protocols.

“Seeing the workings of a real laboratory has strengthened my career decision to remain in research. The feeling of knowing that you are helping add to scientific knowledge and potentially finding solutions to scientific problems is incredibly rewarding.”

Then

Chelsea always had a passion for science and medicine, and found this degree covered those areas.

“Given my interests were heavily based around cancer biology and laboratory research, I ensured I chose electives in these areas that were available in my degree. It also provided placement opportunities as well as pathways to access a research career or continue further study such as honours or a PhD.”

“My placement at the Centre for Cancer Biology involved putting my molecular biology laboratory skills I had learnt into practice. The experience was fantastic and I completed a small project, as well as the kind of scientific writing that you would do in employed research, including a research proposal, and a research manuscript.”

Chelsea also chose UniSA because of its focus on graduate outcomes.

“UniSA has a great track record of graduates transitioning to employment after their degree, and as a mature age student this was an important for me given that I’d ended one career to take on a challenge in a new career.”

Note: UniSA's Bachelor of Biomedical Science is a redefinition of the former Bachelor of Medical Science. This change in specialisation better prepares students for careers in the fast-growing and innovative biomedical sciences industry.

Learn more about the Bachelor of Biomedical Science

Now

Michael works as a Medical Scientist at SA Pathology in Genetics and Molecular Pathology. He is also an accredited Parentage Reporter, where he determines one's parents through DNA.

“I use various molecular techniques to establish causative mutations related to thalassaemia, haemoglobinopathies and bleeding disorders. The results generated from this work are able to assist with pregnancy planning and management. Along with appropriate genetic counselling patients are able to make informed decisions.

“A highlight of my professional career to date is becoming a NATA accredited Parentage Reporter. As part of this, I perform Short Tandem Repeat Analysis to determine paternity as part of SA Pathology’s Parentage Testing Unit.”

Then

Mike was drawn to study Laboratory Medicine due to his interest in biochemistry and genetics.

“The degree’s multidisciplinary focus was an advantage as it allowed the option to focus my learning on my interests within the field. Laboratory medicine ended up being the perfect fit for me. I knew I loved science in general but had no idea which area within that I would most enjoy. The broad range of topics taught in the degree helped me gauge my interests and narrow down my future career choices.

“The flexibility suited my needs as I could use electives to tailor the course to my interests.
I thoroughly enjoyed the practical elements in the degree and the emphasis on hands-on experience was invaluable.”

Learn more about the Bachelor of Laboratory Medicine

“My initial attraction to this course was that it would allow me to combine my love of food, with the Chemistry and Biology subjects at high school that I was good at.

The teaching staff at UniSA were great, they were very knowledgeable and supportive. The best thing that I did while at UniSA was the New Product Development project, where we designed and delivered a new food product from concept to execution.

While studying I attended many industry visits including: Golden North Ice-cream, Ingham’s, National Foods, and The West End Brewery. As well as these industry visits I was able to do a work placement at Rymill Winery in Coonawarra. The experiences were vital for showing us how an actual production plant works and is operated. While you may learn theory in the classroom about the tasks and procedures being done, it is another thing completely to see them taking place, or even better, doing them yourself."

Along with placements in the food industry, Scott was able to utilise his skills in the education sector.

"One of the most rewarding field trips was spending two weeks in the town of Quorn teaching nutritional information to Indigenous students in primary school.”

Learn more about the Bachelor of Nutrtion and Food Sciences