Making marks as a woman in paramedicine

Like many young people in their senior year at high school, I distinctly remember the pressure and expectation to decide on my university course preferences. At 17 years of age, making this decision about the rest of my life was daunting. I knew that I wanted to do something in healthcare or medicine, and had aspirations to be a doctor. Medicine as a career choice was supported by my mother who was a registered nurse and midwife, and felt that nurses were still ‘handmaidens’ to doctors.

Somewhat fortuitously, I didn't get into medicine but was offered a place in a medical science programme. I learned even more about myself during this time than I did of the intended curriculum. Learning that I am a natural extrovert, working in a hospital routine diagnostic laboratory with very little social interaction would not be for me.

A blessing in disguise—for which I am eternally grateful—was a chance conversation with a family friend who mentioned that the ambulance was recruiting, and asked whether I had thought about applying. I was working in a retail community pharmacy at the time, so was looking for full-time work and thought that it would be a good fit for me: people and health care.