My first day of Oncology I was introduced to my lovely team, Dr Nick Refalo the consultant and Dr Etienne Paris the registrar (or higher specialty trainee as they are known in Malta). I felt welcomed and included from the very first moment I was there.

I completed my medical elective at St Luke’s Hospital in Tokyo, Japan. The hospital itself was a great location to spend four weeks as everyone was friendly and it was a relatively new facility.

At the beginning of my fourth year at ANU, I undertook an elective placement at the Emergency Department of Mater Dei Hospital, Malta.  Mater Dei hospital is the only hospital serving the islands of Malta, and so sees a vast array of different presentations on a daily basis.

As the bus pulled into Wexford Station one cold, drizzly Sunday afternoon, on Ireland’s historical south-eastern coast, I couldn’t help but think “I left an Australian summer for this?”