Alex Tiong Yong - International Students

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Bachelor of Biomedical Science, 2005

I am from Malaysia and I graduated with a Bachelor of Biomedical Science from the University of Tasmania in 2005. I heard about The University of Tasmania from a higher education agent back in my hometown in Sibu, Sarawak.

Tasmania is really affordable place to live, and I really enjoyed my time there. It is a lovely natural island with a relaxed lifestyle and friendly and welcoming people. International tourists spend thousands of dollars to visit Tasmania, so I consider myself lucky to be have been able to live and study there for 4 years, travel around the island AND get a degree.

The University of Tasmania offers one of the top Biomedical Science courses in Australia and New Zealand. It is an AIMS (Australian Institute of Medical Scientists) accredited degree, which means that graduates are admitted directly into the professional association and this is really helpful when looking for a job. Relatively small class sizes mean that the lecturers can give students individual attention during practicals and tutorials and get to know the students well on a personal level. “Imagine having burgers and chips and chatting away with your lecturers at McDonalds; that was what we did”. Also the lecturers are quite approachable, so you are able to knock on their office door at lunch break to ask some questions or just to have a chat while they frantically munch on their sandwiches.

As an international student, after graduating, I had to spend some time dealing with an application for Permanent Residency. Fortunately after a few months, I was granted the visa. I then began to look for employment, going through as many ads as I could. The University of Tasmania trains students as a multi-skilled scientists, providing options to go for different jobs. So I constantly had to remind myself that as a fresh graduate I should not limit myself, I applied for various types of jobs in the field – medical scientists, lab technicians, research assistants etc. I am so proud to be a graduate from The University of Tasmania because when I started working, I realised the course is extremely well designed to prepare students for the future careers.

I am currently employed as multi-skilled scientist by QML at Gold Coast, Queensland. Just another great place to be!! QML took me in without any working experience and provide me series of intensive training. I am currently working in various departments including Haematology, Blood Bank, Biochemistry and Microbiology, rostered in Southport main laboratory and 2 local hospitals. Gaining experience from work is the most important thing to me right now and I will certainly be looking at furthering my studies in the near future.