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Medical graduate an Australian Arabic Young Achiever

14 December 2005

Monash medical graduate and staff member Dr Rosana Hage-Ali has been named an Australian Arabic Young Achiever for 2005.

The awards are presented to young people of Australian-Arabic background who have achieved in a particular area. They aim to identify young people who can act as role models for other young people.

Dr Hage-Ali, who received the award for academic achievement, graduated this year from the Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery at Monash. She has also worked in the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine as a research assistant for the past two years.

She is a first-generation Australian whose mother and father moved to Australia from Lebanon in the late 1970s and early 1980s respectively.

As part of her award, Dr Hage-Ali won an overseas trip to the Middle East. She plans to use it to visit Lebanon and the Emirates in July next year.

Dr Hage-Ali said she was surprised to receive the award, as she was just following her dreams, but was proud to be able to inspire young Australian-Arabs to achieve their goals and contribute to and interact with the wider community.

"What I realised from this is that there are very few role models for young people," she said.

"A lot of the young people I have spoken to have been surprised that I have done all this, and that may encourage them to work harder in school to achieve their goals. I also tried to focus on a sense of unity and belonging and identification of oneself as Australian, regardless of original cultural background."

Ms Hage-Ali was recently invited by the Victorian Arabic Social Services Group to speak to high school students about the impact of the global war on terror on Arab youth and their sense of belonging.