Megan Kent is medical student who has undertaken CareerTrackers internship placements at WEHI.

Over the 2019/20 summer, Megan worked with Professor Ivo Mueller's research team, looking at malaria transmission and infection rates in Solomon Islands communities.

WEHI’s diverse workforce has been one of the things Megan has enjoyed most in her three CareerTrackers internships. “Everyone here is so unique and I learn such amazing things over every lunch break,” she said.

Megan is a proud descendent of the Wirangu people in what is now South Australia. “I am extremely honoured that my Grandfather was an initiated tribal elder over there. I grew up displaced from that ancestry though, but was raised a member of the Wathaurong people of the Kulin nation, and have been accepted as a member of that community since childhood.”

She says that CareerTrackers is a valuable initiative, because it helps students who might not have established professional networks to gain valuable work experience.

“Our internships show us real-life applications of our studies, so it assists with our professional equity. People at WEHI tell me they also benefit from working with CareerTracker interns: as well as contributing to research projects, we come in with a refreshing amount of enthusiasm!”

In 2020 Megan was in her final year of medicine at Monash University, and was looking forward to her future career opportunities. “WEHI’s international and diverse employees inspired me to consider working abroad.”

CareerTrackers is a national non-profit organisation that creates internship opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university students. WEHI has been hosting CareerTrackers students since 2014.