Meet AusAID scholar Dr Lumbini Roy
COMING from a small indigenous group in Bangladesh called Chakma, Dr Lumbini Roy has witnessed first-hand the tragic impact an inadequate health system can have on a community.
Dr Roy worked as a gynaecologist in her home country after graduating with an MBBS from Chittagong Medical College in 2004 and undertaking postgraduate training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Pakistan.
Working in this field, she was devastated to see women dying during childbirth or losing their babies because hospital facilities and health programs in Bangladesh were not up to scratch.
This is why Dr Roy applied to for an AusAID Scholarship to study a Master of Public Health in Women’s Health Specialisation at the University of Melbourne.
“The thing that motivated me to shift my career from clinical health to the preventative side is so that I can contribute to the development of community health in my country,” Dr Roy said.
“If I practice as a gynaecologist, I can help one or two people, but if I concentrate on developing health programs, maybe I can do something bigger.”
Dr Roy was offered an AusAID Scholarship and moved to Melbourne to study this year.
“Melbourne is really nice and the people are helpful,” Dr Roy said.
“But I have been here three months and haven’t visited an Australian house. I’ve only met people from my community.”
She would appreciate the chance to have dinner with an Australian family through the University of Melbourne’s ‘Alumni Welcome to Melbourne’ program, seeing it as an opportunity to meet new people and learn about Australian culture.
“It would also be good for them to learn our culture and maybe I can tell them something new too,” Dr Roy said. “It’ll be a new experience for everyone.”