Natalia Sterling
My friends, family, colleagues and lecturers often ask this question. The story begins in my final year of medical school in Poznan, Poland, the city where my mum grew up. I truly enjoyed studying medicine, learning how to help people by understanding how disease disrupts the normal human functions and how to diagnose and treat these conditions.
However, despite my genuine interest, I began my final semester worried that no particular specialty had grabbed me. We started the semester with a clinical rotation through the infectious disease unit at a hospital on Poznan’s outskirts. As we followed the consultant on the morning ward round, we met patients with unexplained fevers and rashes, and something just clicked. I was fascinated by taking detailed histories, digging deep into travel stories and potential exposures.
I was particularly interested in patients with complications from untreated HIV infections, and recognising infections that were only present in those with severely weakened immune systems. After this, I decided I wanted to become an infectious diseases doctor and work on the HIV pandemic.
Next, I’d just started my medical internship in a busy large hospital on the south coast of the United Kingdom. An emailed landed, offering me a role with a public health project. This interested me as I wanted to understand its close connection to infectious diseases. That project addressed the challenge of social isolation among elderly people. It evaluated the impact of a community-based befriending program. I was intrigued by this work and was inspired by other interns’ projects, such as a community spaces offering services to rough sleepers.
But working on the HIV pandemic still beckoned. To broaden my understanding of sexually transmitted infections, I took up a role in a community sexual health clinic. Around then, I attended an HIV prevention conference in London and was deeply moved by stories of resilience and fierce advocacy from communities overcoming stigma and discrimination.
I strongly recall a presentation about a project called Intersexions, a South African television series that educated young people about HIV transmission. I was inspired by the creative approach and the way it empowered communities to share their stories. While I was also encouraged by the talks of incredible scientific breakthroughs in more effective anti-retroviral medication, it was the personal stories that resonated most.
The stark reality that, despite the availability of anti-retroviral therapy, many people around the world still lacked access to the life-saving treatment. Additionally, discrimination and stigma towards certain groups such as LGTBQIA+ people, refugee and asylum seeker communities and sex workers was rife. I realised that what really motivated me was addressing these inequities – the unfairness that is avoidable.
Thinking that I needed to travel to places where these inequities were the most pronounced, I applied to study a diploma of tropical medicine in Liverpool. In this course, I was expecting to dive deeper into understanding HIV management. What I didn’t foresee is how much more captivated I would be by the introductory public health lectures.
One public health professor spoke about how changing the salt level only slightly in store-bought bread could have a significant effect on heart disease incidence. That was the turning point. I pivoted from individual-level to population-level health, and enrolled in the Master of Public Health (MPH) at University of Melbourne.
From the very beginning of the MPH course with qualitative research and social determinants as my first subjects, I never looked back. I began thinking seriously about how I could work towards addressing present-day inequities at home including those affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, LGBTQIA+ communities, and migrant, refugee and asylum seeker populations.
As a MPH graduate, my internship at PHAA has been an invaluable experience that has given me confidence and skills to pursue my next steps in the complex and wonderful world of public health. It was an especially interesting time being in the middle of the delayed 2025 election cycle.
I applied my knowledge in sexual and reproductive health to contribute to a submission for the Tasmanian Preventive Health strategy, ensuring it was evidence-based and up to date.
While I had some training in advocacy during the MPH, it was during this internship that I began to truly understand the importance of being strategic in advocacy efforts. I learned how to craft an effective advocacy letter to get the attention of politicians with many competing priorities.
I attended meetings hosted by strategic communications consultancy Common Cause and heard the workshopping of intricately thought-through advocacy strategies. A key lesson I took from this is the power of storytelling and lived experience. When we look beyond strategies, protocols and policies, we are after all, human and this is how we connect.
I was fortunate to spend three days in autumnal Canberra at the annual PHAA Preventive Health Conference and heard many inspiring speakers. One session that stood out to me was Associate Professor Raglan Maddox’s “Sovereignty, Resistance, and Action” workshop where we developed practical actions to support a nicotine-free future.
Another memorable session was Dr Heena Akbar’s community based co-design program, which empowers Pasifika women to take control of their diabetes. Both of these stories lit a fire in my belly to continue learning, to listen deeply, and to walk alongside communities in this work. I’m excited to take the next step in my public health journey, and continue to do my small part to address inequities.
Dr Natalia Sterling (ahove right, with PHAA Policy Officer Lily Pratt) a medical doctor and Master of Public Health graduate from the University of Melbourne, recently completed a policy internship at PHAA. She is based in Meanjin / Brisbane.