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Founder – Amanda Griffiths

Hello and thank you for stopping by!

My name is Amanda Griffiths, and I’m proud to have founded My Health Career, which is Australia’s first website for anyone considering a career in health. Since launching the website in 2012, I have invested a lot of time in dispelling myths and rumours about the health industry. Our articles, guest blog posts, and videos are from reliable sources.

Why I created My Health Career

When I look back…… basically I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do when I finished high school. I fell into the profession of optometry which I love, but it was really by a stroke of luck. My Health Career has been developed so that others don’t leave their professional lives to chance.

I had always been fairly ‘book smart’, had a passion for dance, and had literally grown up in my parent’s small business in northern New South Wales. Completing my senior schooling in the Queensland system, I did physics, chemistry, maths B, maths C and legal studies because I thought these subjects would keep my options open for something ‘sciency’ at uni.

Careers events and university open days

I remember going to careers events and university open days and having difficulty even knowing what questions to ask!! Really. Where do you start? And I read the QTAC book (you might have the UAC, VTAC, SATAC, TISCO in your state) cover to cover like many, many times and just couldn’t find anything that jumped out at me.

Switched university courses

I was enrolled in a double degree in business and commerce at one university, before getting into optometry at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in the second round offers.

Little knowledge about the profession I was entering

Looking back now, although I didn’t consciously realize it at the time, I probably put these two preferences down because of the career choices of my two older sisters – one was an optometrist, and the other was in the corporate world. And because I couldn’t find anything I definitively knew I wanted to do, I was just going to follow in their footsteps!!

You would think I went into the optometry course knowing all about the profession, but to be honest, I was just as clueless as all the other first year students. If I had my time over again, I would have asked to sit in for a few days with my sister or one of her colleagues, researched trends in the industry, asked practice owners what it’s like to own a business in the industry, and spoken to as many people in the industry as possible!! In the end I was just lucky that I found something I enjoy.

Graduated

I graduated from QUT in 2003, and have worked in a number of urban and rural settings as an optometrist. I’ve worked in remote indigenous communities in Cape York in Queensland, boutique practices in inner-city locations, and corporate practices from Cairns to Launceston, Broome to Taree, and Darwin to Port Macquarie.

My professional background

Consulted

for CheckUP Australia and Queensland Health on the Choose Your Own Health Career website, which provides information for high school students considering their VET sector training options.

Consulted

for CheckUP and the Australian Government’s Department of Health to do a consultation around upskilling, student placements and interdisciplinary care referral pathways in the Visiting Optometrist Scheme.

Published author

on The mental health and wellbeing survey of Australian optometrists.

Learning Designer

for The University of Queensland’s once in a generation update of the Doctor of Medicine (MD) Program, which had its first intake of students in January 2023.

Invited speaker

or exhibitor at over 30 high school careers events and expos as well as for organisations including the Career Development Association of Australia and Queensland’s Department of Education, Training and Employment.

Private tours

Attended behind the scenes industry tours at a public hospital and an aged care facility to attain an understanding of the inner working of these organisations.

Interviews

Interviewed over 30 medical and allied health practitioners about the good, the bad and the ugly in their professions.

Founding member

of the Health Sector VET Engagement Working Party, which brought together organisations such as:

  • Queensland Health
  • Education Queensland
  • Registered Training Organisations including TAFE Queensland,
  • the Health and Community Services Workforce Council to coordinate the state-wide approach to engage with prospective health students in the vocational education and training (VET) sector.

Solid understanding of the health system in Australia

via publishing over 700 articles across more than 15 professions on My Health Career.

Variety of locations in clinical practice

Worked as an optometrist in over 50 private and corporate practices in most states and territories in Australia, providing eye care in cities, regional towns and remote indigenous communities in this beautiful country. This has given me firsthand knowledge of the different skill sets required by practitioners in different locations.

Being known as the optometrist who makes patients laugh

Yep, really… people hear the laughter from outside the consulting room!!

Master of Ceremonies

Three times fulfilled the role of Master of Ceremonies at the national finals of the HealthFusion Team Challenge, an interdisciplinary competition for university health students.

Network

Having a large network of health professionals, including the former national presidents and vice-presidents of organisations including:

  • the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia
  • Dietitians Association Australia, and
  • Optometry Australia

First Class Honours

Achieving First Class Honours in my Optometry degree when I graduated in 2003, which was a stepping stone to everything else!

More about My Health Career

I also think it’s time we had practitioner health and the centre of the industry itself as the platform and basis for everything we do in health care.

Amanda Griffiths
Founder – My Health Career
BAppSc (Optom) (Hons 1), GC Ocular Therapeutics, GC Education