The Road to Science

Tala is currently doing her PhD inneuroscience.“I grew up in America and came to Australia for a holiday and ended up as a research assistant at the Prince of Wales Westfield Research Laboratory,” she says.

She applied for a PhD majoring inolfactoryscience at UNSW. She also sat theGraduate Australian Medical School Admission Test (GAMSAT)(the postgraduate entrance exam into medicine) and was accepted into both. “It was a hard decision: I sat there for two hours with both acceptance papers in my hand deciding on which to do. I chose research,” she says.

So, why choose science over medicine? “Research is more rewarding. I mean, I want to be the person that gives cures to the pharmaceutical companies so that they can make the medicine for everyone,” she says. She is saving lives in a unique, valuable way.