Meet our inspiring alumni
Meet Elena
After years of juggling medical training and professional pistol shooting, Elena combined both passions at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics when asked to be the Oceania Olympic Flag Bearer, representing her country and other COVID-19 frontline workers.
“I greatly appreciated the recognition given to healthcare and essential workers in the opening ceremony by the Tokyo 2020 organising committee. I felt great pride in being chosen to represent and gratitude, because without the healthcare workers around the globe the event would not have been possible.”
The dual Olympian’s key event is the 25m Sports Pistol. In 2015, she claimed her first international title, winning the 25m gold at the Oceania Championships.
Elena began her Bachelor of Biomedicine in 2008. After majoring in human structure and function, she went on to study a Doctor of Medicine at Melbourne. “Undergraduate study was a lot of fun. There was so much to do – clubs, activities and balls! I remember the content being challenging, but I think in the first year there is always a learning curve because it is a different way of learning compared with school, it is much more self-driven and directed.”
After completing her MD, Elena worked as an intern, resident and then surgical registrar. During the past two years’, she has been working on the frontline during the COVID-19 pandemic and is also an Honorary Urology Research Fellow at Austin Health. In February 2022, she joined the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand.
With the benefit of hindsight, Elena says she would tell her younger self to: “Think about what you value and why, although those things change with time if you stick to your values and act accordingly you won’t go wrong.”