I am a final year medical student in Sydney, Australia and I am very interested in O&G, particularly urogynaecology. I was on the IUGA website for interest when, fortunately, I stumbled across their mentoring page for medical students. I decided to reach out and was put in contact with Dr Karmakar, a urogynaecologist in Melbourne. As a medical student, it is difficult to know how to get in contact with doctors, how to show that you’re interested in a subspecialty and how to get involved. Dr Karmakar has been incredibly kind, and has put in a lot of effort to get me in contact with other urogynaecologists in Australia and New Zealand with the prospect of doing research and elective terms. He also spoke with me at length over the phone to answer any questions I had about urogynaecology, including how to get into the program, what to expect and work life balance. I feel as though my journey is a lot less daunting now that I know I have a mentor I can always contact, and for that I am so grateful. I am really looking forward to getting involved and gaining more experience in urogynaecology!
I first came across the IUGA Meet the Mentor scheme while I was researching potential electives for my final year. I was promptly put into contact with Matt. Matt has been hugely supportive giving me advice about potential elective locations and discussing his own experiences. He has also been able to help arrange part of my elective in 2022. I am hugely grateful to the IUGA and Matt for all their help and support!
