When Louise Sandford completed her undergraduate degree in Anatomy, she never imagined that her postgraduate studies would take her to a dream job in Wellington with one of the largest non-profit organisations in New Zealand. But this is exactly what happened, and Louise is now the National Research and Policy Manager for the Cancer Society .
Until recently Louise was responsible for the overall management of the SunSmart Schools programme. Most of her time has been spent on database and website management, but she is also responsible for the creation of new initiatives for the programme, as well as supporting the Society's regional health promoters.
Louise initially started out as the Health Promotion Coordinator for the Otago/Southland branch of the Cancer Society of New Zealand. She loved the hands-on style of the job and was actively involved in many aspects of the Society's educational programmes – including the SunSmart and SunSmart Schools Programmes, the Smokefree Lifestyles and Environment Programme, the Nutrition and Physical Activity Programme, and the Screening and Early Detection Programme.
She loves her job and says her leap from the regional to the national office has been challenging, but very exciting. One of the more interesting challenges for her has been working with the many different Government agencies to develop operating plans for the programme.
This is all very different from the research she was doing as a student in the Anatomy Department. She has gone from spending her days in a research lab surrounded by epithelial cells and Western blots and doing immunohistochemistry runs, to managing and advocating for what is perhaps the country's most well-known health programme (who hasn't heard of Slip Slop and Slap?).
Louise says her undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Anatomy have given her the base skills she needs to be successful in her new role. “Having a sound understanding of research, and being able to read scientific papers underpin my ability to communicate clearly and effectively, which is vital when you are working with many groups of people.”
It just goes to show that it's not necessarily the subject matter you study, but the skills you learn, and how you apply these skills that set you up for a bright future.