“I enjoyed the practical experience during my student placements. It’s one thing learning the skills in a classroom or a textbook, but it’s another thing to put them into practice in the real world and interact with real people and their problems. Suddenly it’s not just a Word document on my laptop.

During my practical experience, I was exposed to just how powerful health promotion is in the prevention of health issues. I hope to make an impact by improving awareness and education about the modifiable risk factors of preventable, non-communicable diseases.”

Dr Alison Hughes is an educator who is passionate about public health and, through this lens is committed to ensuring better health outcomes for the population. Alongside her strong interest in and commitment to public health, she has been teaching public health for over 20 years at postgraduate and undergraduate levels at universities in Australia and China. Dr Hughes’ areas of interest and teaching specialisations cover health policy and law, foundations of public health, international health, and the Australian health system. To complement her teaching role, she also brings extensive practical experience based on previous employment as a health programs manager, policy analyst, health services consultant, and researcher in diverse health organisations.