Jan (he/him/his)

Hello, my name is Jan, and I am medical student at the University of Queensland (UQ). I am currently in my third year, undertaking a rural placement in Hervey Bay for the next two years. I am interested in rural practice, and this placement is a great opportunity to explore that option before I graduate.

A little bit about my background, I was born and raised in Croatia and came to Australia about ten years ago. I have spent seven of those years at the University of Queensland, having studied an undergraduate in Psychology before starting medicine.

LGBTIQ+ healthcare is a topic very close to my heart, especially transgender and intersex health care. My hope is to make the future of our community a little bit brighter by being the best doctor and person I can be. Currently, I am part of a wonderful group of passionate and proactive LGBTIQ+ medical students at UQ, who work hard to better the representation of our community in the curriculum. I hope our work will go on to foster LGBTIQ+ literacy of medical students and doctors in the years to come.

Another dream of mine is to someday be able to offer my services in Auslan. Not having grown up in Australia, I am still working on reaching fluency, but it is something I know I want to incorporate into any endeavours life brings!

I am beyond honoured to be awarded The Selig Family Scholarship. I am so grateful to the wonderful Geoff Selig and Family; your generosity will go a long way in bringing me closer to my goals. I will strive to pay it forward someday.