Karina’s future was written – this is how she became a health and medical writer | UniSC | University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

There is a branch of esoteric philosophy that believes humans are born without a soul.

The thinking, most famously taught by George Gurdjieff and popularised by cartoon character Lisa Simpson, believes a soul is crystallised through conscious labour and “intentional suffering”.

Most people who have completed a thesis for a PhD understand this on a deeper level – the pain and love and labour that goes into shaping the work is difficult to describe.

So when Karina Hamilton-Peel tells those people that she relished writing her thesis – it can, at times, infuriate them…in a playful sort of way, of course.

“Writing my PhD thesis at UniSC was probably the highlight of my studies,” she says.

“I just really enjoy crafting a story and researching and trying to write things in a cohesive narrative and making it easy to understand.”

Is it any wonder then, that Karina has ended up as a Senior Medical Writer for the highly-regarded medical communications and education agency, Springer Health+.

“If you would have asked 17-year-old me about medical writing, I wouldn't even have known that that was a job – it was never even on my radar,” she says.

Karina’s intelligence is made obvious when you talk with her. She’s warm and is very rational, choosing her words carefully to clearly communicate her message.

She’s always been smart – a good performer in high school, graduating with top marks.

When it came to university, her parents were supportive but found it difficult to offer much in the way of personal guidance because Karina was to be the first in family to attend tertiary education.

She did her research, landing on UniSC to complete a Bachelor of Biomedical Science (Accelerated), meaning she could complete it in just two years instead of the usual three or four.

She powered through it, graduating with a Distinguished Academic Record, before going on to complete a one-year Honours research project on the cardio-protective effects of omega-3 fatty acids.

From there, she went into her PhD, which eventually led her to Cardiff in Wales, where she would meet her future husband. 

But to get there, Karina says she had a lot of help along the way – particularly financial.

“I got quite a few scholarships throughout my studies so they took a lot of financial pressure off, which meant I could really focus on my studies.

“I'm really grateful to the people and organisations that offered me those scholarships – particularly the Renouf Family Scholarship.

“I got that during my undergrad degree, which was a big help to me and my family.

“I've actually stayed in touch with the Renouf family – we exchange Christmas cards every year, so it's nice that I can consider them friends now.”

Moving from Hervey Bay to study on the Sunshine Coast, there was a financial impost on Karina, which these scholarships helped ease.

The Renouf Family Scholarship is still available at UniSC today, offering high-achieving students the opportunity to be awarded up to $28,000, distributed in payments throughout their studies.

Coordinator for student financial support Melissa Price says, aside from the Renouf Family Scholarships, there are many others available for students who might need extra support.

“There are scholarships available for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, or those who are from regional locations,” Melissa says.

“Help is available – and applying for them is often easier than people think. I encourage anyone who needs some extra financial assistance to contact us to see what’s on offer.”

It was another scholarship, or scholarships, that helped Karina through her PhD too – with one in particular coming from the prestigious National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), which contributed financially towards her research into the wound-healing properties of native stingless bee propolis.

In part, thanks to financial backing, Karina was able to finish off the last 10 months of her research at a lab in Cardiff University that specialised in that field.

By the time she completed her PhD, Karina earned UniSC’s Chancellor’s Medal – the highest honour a graduate can receive.  
Cardiff would also bring about another milestone moment in Karina’s life. On a sunny afternoon, at a mutual friend’s BBQ in a courtyard, she met her future husband.

“That year in Cardiff set the course for what the rest of my life has looked like,” she says.

“I'm really fortunate that opportunity presented itself to me and I grabbed it.”

After her time at Cardiff University, Karina returned home to complete her PhD before hopping on a flight back to Cardiff, where she “stumbled across an ad for a medical writing job”.

“I was working for a health economics agency, writing up their publications,” she says.

But the pull of Queensland weather was powerful – Karina asked her now husband if he wanted to move to Australia. It wasn’t a hard sell.

The couple now live in Brisbane, where Karina is working for Springer Health+.

“In retrospect, when I think about it, I was good at school, I was good at uni, I enjoyed writing assignments – and now I've become kind of a professional assignment writer in a way.

“So,” she says, “I guess I should have seen it coming.”