{"id":28398,"date":"2025-06-25T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/?post_type=oasis-news&p=28398"},"modified":"2025-06-25T16:10:35","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T08:10:35","slug":"from-two-minute-noodles-to-medical-school","status":"publish","type":"oasis-news","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/oasis-news\/from-two-minute-noodles-to-medical-school\/","title":{"rendered":"From two-minute noodles to medical school!\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Reading time: 4 minutes<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

From late-night study sessions to learning how to cook, Damien\u2019s journey into medicine is as much about personal growth as it is academic. He shares how he\u2019s building community, staying motivated, and navigating the ups and downs of uni life with curiosity and heart.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After moving to Australia at age eight, Damien\u2019s journey to medicine has taken him from Port Hedland to Perth, with a few detours (and a few two-minute noodles) along the way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second-year Curtin medicine student Damien always knew he liked science, but it wasn\u2019t until high school that he realised he liked talking to people even more.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cI\u2019m a bit of a yapper, so I figured I needed a career that let me do both.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It was a conversation with his grandma, a nurse, that helped steer him towards medicine. She warned that it was a big road to take on, but his dad reminded him that anything worth doing would be hard. This sentiment was a main driver in his decision to pursue medicine, especially when his dad said, \u201cIf it\u2019s what you want, you might as well go for it.\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far, he\u2019s glad he did. Damien is thoroughly enjoying the degree, the busyness and the challenge, and finds that because there\u2019s a clear goal that he is working towards, he feels determined.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After finishing high school in the Perth Hills, Damien moved into Kurrajong Village at Curtin, where he lives with three mates from his high school boarding days.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cIt made the transition easier. We already had that sense of community.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

He also feels that closeness within the med school cohort. Taking many of his classes with the same people, he feels that he has gotten to know people quickly. With the many med clubs, like the Association of Medical Students<\/a>, the Rural Outreach Health Club,<\/a> the Curtin Surgical Association<\/a> and the International Health Organisation<\/a>, he has made friends with the same drive and passion.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally from Zimbabwe, Damien spent about ten years in Port Hedland before his family moved again to Queensland. Though he\u2019s far from them now, he\u2019s learning to embrace independence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThe biggest challenge has honestly been learning to make food. You come home at 7pm after a long class, and it\u2019s hard to keep the energy and stay motivated to cook. My mum\u2019s probably reading this saying, \u2018I told you so!\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Other than the 2-minute noodle solution to his lack of energy to cook, there\u2019s a lot of other new time management learning opportunities he is finding in living independently. Compared to high school boarding, where there was a schedule that determined his mealtimes, study times and free time, his independence now has a lot more freedom. Further, he\u2019s taken on the responsibility of being the Vice President of the Curtin Association of Medical Students (CAMS)<\/a>. Dedicating time to this role has been difficult, as it takes a huge chunk of his time and energy, but being part of clubs is something that has brough him joy, friendships and new skills, so he finds it worthy.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Balancing work, uni and housework was hard to begin with, so he looks to look his \u2018more organised friends\u2019 as a blueprint, introducing him to new scheduling tools, like Google Calendar.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he\u2019s not battling his kitchen, Damien is busy with clinical skills classes and studying for both written and practical assessments, including OSCEs. Although he finds that his study is a lot of theory, he finds motivation in the moments where \u2018it clicks\u2019; when something from one study week connects to a new concept. These moments of learning connections have been encouraging and fuels his passion and love for study.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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He\u2019s also adjusting to a faster pace this year. \u00a0
\u201cIn first year, we got a new topic every two weeks. Now it\u2019s every week. It\u2019s more content and higher expectations. I\u2019m still figuring out how to balance everything, study, life, all of it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Outside of uni study, he does choir in a club, plays futsal in social sports, tutors other students and is considering taking up field hockey again. After he graduates, he would love to consider being a General Practitioner (GP) or look to specialise in cardiology but wants to keep his options open and continue to learn and try new things.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Port Hedland to Perth, Damien\u2019s journey into medicine has been full of learning curves, both in the classroom and the kitchen. Now thriving at Curtin, he\u2019s embracing the challenge, building community, and chasing a future where he can keep learning and helping others.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Port Hedland to Perth, Damien\u2019s journey into medicine is packed with big moves, late-night noodles, and plenty of learning, both in the classroom and in life outside it. | Reading time: 4 mins <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4466,"featured_media":28399,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"8045,7109,7076,7305,6591,7140","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","wds_primary_oasis-categories":0,"footnotes":""},"oasis-categories":[146,250],"class_list":["post-28398","oasis-news","type-oasis-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","oasis-categories-student-life","oasis-categories-student-profile"],"acf":{"post_options":{"":null,"banner":{"image":false}}},"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/damienoasis-profile.png","author_meta":{"first_name":"Mikaela","last_name":"Zuiderduyn","display_name":"Mikaela Zuiderduyn"},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-11 22:36:52","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"oasis-categories","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oasis-news\/28398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oasis-news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/oasis-news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oasis-news\/28398\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"oasis-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oasis-categories?post=28398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}