UQ PhD candidate Cecilia Liliana Gomez Inclan recently undertook a placement at the Australian Association of Gerontology (AAG), which is Australia’s peak body linking professionals working across the fields of ageing.
She said her motivation for undertaking a placement at AAG was to “experience the public health/policy area that has been calling my attention for quite a long time now.”
She found out about AAG at the start of her PhD, saying, “When I started my PhD I had a spark of interest about ageing public health/policy, so I googled if there was any public or private associations working in this space.”
After she learned about the UQ HDR Placement program, she contacted AAG with a placement proposal and CV and they jumped on board.
Her role consisted of gathering information from government surveys to draft a paper focussing on the Cultural and Linguistic Diversity (CALD) among the ageing Australian population.
AAG were supportive of Cecilia's PhD commitments and agreed to a “2-days per week” placement so she could continue to progress her PhD research project.
Cecilia said the experience was a positive one, “because I had time to let the new ideas I was learning sink in and I could still work in my PhD project. It was hard but it was also worth it.”
In summing up her placement experience, Cecilia said, “I found it to be a very refreshing and different experience that has opened new doors for me in the future.”
Cecilia's placement not only gave her experience outside of academia, but also resulted in employment. Cecilia said, "I got a part-time job in the same organisation which is very exciting. The placement definitely opened a myriad of opportunities for my next professional step."
If you are a UQ HDR candidate and would like to explore your placement opportunities, attend an information session to learn more about the program.
