First year Medicine at the University of Tasmania was a pivotal year for Rural Clinical School alumna Dr Alice McGushin and set her on the path which led to her recent appointment to the Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress On Health and Climate Change.
Raised on Tasmania’s rugged West Coast by community-minded parents, Dr McGushin arrived in Hobart instilled with a strong sense of social justice and a passion for global health and protecting the environment.
However, when presented with the renowned quote from climate change advocate and paediatrician Dr Anthony Costello “climate change is the biggest health threat of the 21st century”, Dr McGushin’s drive to improve people’s health and her drive to protect the environment, came together as one purpose.
“Two of my great passions: the environment and global health, were now connected and so I pursued this for the rest of medical school,” Dr McGushin said.
Throughout medical school, Dr McGushin threw herself into activities that allowed her to express her passions, including becoming the student representative at Doctors for the Environment, working with the Australian Medical Students’ Association leading the Code Green Project, and working with the International Federation of Medical Students’ Association on an environmental program.
At the time, Dr McGushin never imagined less than 9 years on she would be working side-by-side with Anthony Costello. Earlier this year, Dr Alice McGushin was employed by the Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress On Health and Climate Change as Programme Manager, where she works with this esteemed professor, as well as fellow Australian and Executive Director of the project, Nick Watts, and many world-leading researchers in the field of health and climate change.
Based in London, Dr McGushin’s role is to guide the academic direction of the Lancet Countdown, an international research collaboration of 27 academic and UN institutions from every continent.
Dr McGushin attributes her strong sense of social justice and passion for global health and protecting the environment to her upbringing on the West Coast of Tasmania.
“The West Coast has a key role in shaping who I am today, environmentally, the West Coast is fascinating, with some of the most beautiful rainforests, rivers, waterfalls, and coastlines in the world,” Dr McGushin said.
“The West Coast also has a strong community, community both my parents were very involved in, and so too were my siblings and I.
“I was signed up to every sport and helped out at and attended every community event.
“Growing up on the West Coast set the foundation of who I am today, driving my passion for the environment and my community.
Dr McGushin takes that sense of community with her everywhere she goes. While London is worlds apart from the wild landscapes of Tasmania’s West Coast, Dr McGushin finds pockets of close-knit communities that remind her of home.
“I find communities wherever I can - through my local community garden, through my running club, and through other young people in London who are equally passionate about climate change and health,” Dr McGushin said.
Running has developed into another passion of Dr McGushin’s, one that emerged during her time at the Rural Clinical School. Earlier this year, Dr McGushin felt honoured to link her passion for running with her passion for the environment when she returned to the West Coast to participate in the inaugural Takayna Ultra, a 65km ultra-marathon fundraising to protect the Tarkine.
Dr McGushin’s success in winning the event sweetened the experience even more.
“This was an especially special race for me. It was my first ultra in my country, my first trail along my home coast, and fundraising for something I care deeply about. It was such an honour to race and win this inaugural event,” Dr McGushin said.
