Originally Published in 2024
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies a few years from now. In the meantime, she is making the most of every opportunity to achieve her dream.
“Joining MSF was one of my motivations for working so hard to get into medicine,” says Jess. “I think it’s really important to acknowledge the privilege that we have here in New Zealand. So many countries don’t have sufficient access to healthcare and education and this would be a way for me to be able to address that.”
Doctors Without Borders was founded in 1971 to provide medical assistance to people affected by emergencies such as conflict, epidemics and natural disasters. It also runs longer-term projects tackling health crises and supporting people in more than 70 countries across the globe, which is the work Jess hopes to be involved in.
The committed 22-year-old says she’s keen to work in India, where MSF has had teams operating in remote areas to address healthcare needs and public health concerns since 1999. Two trips to the country with her partner, who is from India, have strengthened her resolve to work there. “It’s a very special place for us,” she says.
Jess has concerns about how well-meaning charities might not be collaborating with and empowering local communities in developing countries. “I think it’s important to partner with local communities, utilising shared resources and experience to improve health and well-being in a sustainable and effective way,” she says.
As she enters the fourth year of her medical degree, Jess has already decided to specialise in general practice or public health, figuring the skills she will learn will be transferable to Doctors Without Borders. It’s an area of medicine she is naturally attracted to. “I really like the idea of having that continuity of care and seeing families grow up.”
Research and education are also subjects close to her heart. In 2022 she received a Dunedin School of Medicine dean’s scholarship to conduct a research project about how heavy workloads affect students’ well-being. “I’m really passionate about the education sphere,” she says. “I like helping people to understand coursework in a way that’s very straightforward and doesn’t need to be scary.” And in 2023, for her honours degree, she completed a year-long research project about intermittent fasting with continuous glucose monitoring, which she says was driven by “my passion for public health and creating change for large populations”.
In the short term, Jess is applying her considerable talents to other areas of university life. Alongside her own coursework, the Pinnacle graduate from Christchurch has provided many hours of support to younger students at Otago. In 2021 and 2022, she was a PASS facilitator for cell and molecular biology, and biochemistry for first-year students, helping them discover how university learning can be fun and collaborative. Last year, she was promoted to a PASS mentor –a role in which she mentored the new facilitators. And as a live-in residential assistant (RA), she also mentored first-year students to help them transition to tertiary studies. “I found that really rewarding,” she says.
It’s no surprise then to hear that somewhere in her future, she can see herself working as an educator within medicine. “I really enjoy that lightbulb moment when people grasp a new concept.”