Award-winning student doctor leaves lasting impact at Monash Health
A student doctor at Monash Health has won a prestigious International Student of the Year award, recognising her excellent research, leadership and community service.
While at Monash Health, the final year medical student has assisted with world-leading research, led a critical care research project, and gained clinical experience across several departments and hospitals.
Jesselyn has completed placements at Monash Medical Centre, Casey Hospital, Dandenong Hospital and at the Victorian Heart Hospital.
She vividly remembers walking into the Monash Medical Centre to do her first placement in the cardiology department.
‘Everything felt so foreign, so unfamiliar and the doctors and final year medical students were really patient and kind, they basically introduced me to the hospital system,’ she said.
‘This year, I had the opportunity to do cardiology at the Victorian Heart Hospital as a final year student, I felt I could really pay it forward.’
Jesselyn is grateful for the broad range of experience she has gained at Monash Health.
‘I look back across the last 4 years with a lot of fondness, because this is truly where I’ve built my clinical acumen, and it’s something that I will take with me throughout my career,’ she said.
‘The opportunities to be involved, taking the first step into ICU research, being in clinical settings or even running my own research project, has all helped me to grow overall as a clinician.’
Associate Professor Neil Glassford, Epidemiologist and Intensive Care Specialist at Monash Medical Centre and the Victorian Heart Hospital, said she has demonstrated exceptional leadership.
‘She is a shining example of the future of medicine in Australia,’ he said.
‘In her time with the Department of Intensive Care, she demonstrated a true commitment to the pillars of clinical excellence – a hunger for knowledge, holistic empathic practice, and furthering medical progress through her involvement in research.’
Another highlight of Jesselyn’s time at Monash Health has been working as a research assistant with the Victorian Heart Institute over the past 2 years.
This has included data collection, data analysis and manuscript writing for trials, including the world first PUMA trial, which is studying if invasive devices used to monitor cardiac function help or harm Australians who undergo open heart surgery.
While at VHI, she also led a research project looking at sedation practices after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
The Monash University Medicine student has co-authored 6 peer-reviewed research papers, led critical care research and helped develop a planetary health lecture now taught to more than 900 first-year medical students.
She has also mentored fellow international students through the Malaysian Medical Students and Alumni of Victoria (MAMSA), created opportunities for students to connect, and helped raise funds for people experiencing homelessness.
Originally from Malaysia, Jesselyn has spent 6 years in Melbourne.
After graduating this year, she will move to Perth for an internship at Royal Perth Hospital.
‘I think with my connections that I’ve built in Melbourne and the mentors that I’ve found, I hope to find my way back here eventually,’ she said.
‘I would be keen to explore critical care specialties. So either ICU, ED, or anaesthetics.’
Monash Health wishes Jesselyn every success as she takes the next steps in her medical career.
