Anna Duan - future graduate
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2024 AMA Queensland Foundation – IMAQ Medical Student Scholarship Recipient. Now fifth year JCU medical student. 
Anna Duan is an aspiring public health physician and rural generalist, now in her fifth year of medical school at Townsville’s James Cook University.
Anna’s scholarship has helped her complete her fourth year of medicine in 2024, including clinical placement in Cloncurry.
“The AMA Queensland Foundation scholarship has been a real game changer for me this year, enabling me to finish my year (as I initially considered taking a leave of absence this year), and on top of this, helped me pursue additional meaningful opportunities without financial stress,” Anna said.
Anna was awarded an AMA Queensland Foundation – Indian Medical Association Queensland (IMAQ) Scholarship under the Foundation’s Sponsor one Student initiative.
This initiative invites organisations and individuals to get behind the AMA Queensland Medical Student Scholarships and provide a medical scholarship of $10,000 outside of existing fundraising activities, helping more students in financial hardship pursue their dreams of becoming doctors.
The 18 months prior to Anna’s scholarship application had been particularly challenging, where her own chronic health issues were compounded with one of her parents being diagnosed with cancer and experiencing ongoing medical complications.
This meant she had to take on greater responsibilities alongside academic pursuits.
“Being awarded the AMA Queensland Foundation scholarship is life changing. It allows me to focus on my medical education, alongside extracurricular and placement experiences, without feeling the constant pressure of needing to find additional work to meet my basic needs.”
Anna and her family migrated from rural North China when she was five years old, speaking no English.
“We have an expectation that when things don’t make sense in school, or society, we can ask our parents, and they will help explain it. As a first generation Australian, it becomes more of my role to do this for my parents, and that can be challenging,” Anna said.
Anna’s family navigated financial sacrifices and other difficulties to bring their family to Australia.
“The hardships in my experiences as a first generation Australian from an immigrant family taught me to appreciate the immense generosity, compassion and love that mentors around me showed as they helped me navigate my way through the initially daunting foreign culture,” she said.
It is these collective experiences that have inspired Anna to commence a Master of Public Health and Tropical Medicine alongside her medical studies.
“I am filled with immense gratitude for the AMA Queensland's support and belief in me, my journey and my future. Medicine and public health are my passion, and I am working tirelessly to persevere and achieve this dream,” Anna said.
“I owe this dream to my family, my beloved mentors and my colleagues and friends that continue to inspire me to become the best version of myself that I can be,” Anna said.
In 2025, Anna will be moving from Townsville to Mackay for her final two years of study. She looks forward to publishing and presenting her work in helminth diagnostics, One Health and syphilis.
We wish Anna every success in her final years of medical school and beyond.
Interested in the opportunity to provide a Medical Student Scholarship via the Sponsor One Student (SoS) initiative?
Reach out to the AMA Queensland Foundation to discuss sponsorship opportunities.
[email protected]