Bridget is one of our Clinical Research Nurses, part of the clinic team who you’ll see when coming to St Thomas’ for your visit. Bridget and her team will take your samples, go through various phenotype tests, and complete your DXA scan. She manages, monitors, and also trains the clinic team on various skills to make sure your visits run as safely and smoothly as possible.

What about your culture are you most proud about? 

I am proud of the new generations of Australians who are truly embracing multiculturalism in Australia. I am especially proud of the shift in our culture towards recognising our first nations people. Australia has a troubled history with embracing other cultures, and in particular the harrowing treatment of our first nations people. Australians are known for our laidback, chilled approach to life (you’ve seen me with my feet up at the desk right?) yet we don’t shy away from the ‘hard yaka’ (hard work) – this is something I appreciate more and more as the hustle culture becomes more prominent. This isn’t to say work is our highest priority, but we are happy to just get in get the job done, which as a child always meant helping Dad in the backyard. Mateship is big for us, through highs and lows we don’t hesitate to help each other out. The main thing that comes to mind is floods/bushfires which sadly are now a regular occurrence, my local area floods significantly every few years. The footage of people helping others, even animals, during the 2019-2020 bushfires made me proud to be an Aussie. 

What are your favourite customs? 

Most of the customs celebrated in Australia, or at least by my family, are all the usuals – Christmas, Easter etc etc, mostly celebrated with family, friends, and food in the sunshine. But one of our iconic customs, and my absolute favourite, would have to be the sausage sizzle. Some might say it’s our national dish.

The Bunnings Snag – Bunnings is a franchise of hardware stores across Australia, who support local charities/sporting teams etc by hosting a fundraiser sausage sizzle almost every weekends. A (beef!!) sausage on bread, with onions and sauce if you like, tastes so much better cooked on a BBQ outside a bunnings, when you’re either preparing for a weekend of hard yaka or rewarding your efforts of the day, plus a gold coin to support someone else – it’s a win win!!

The Democracy Sausage –  It’s compulsory for adults 18+ to vote in elections – so on election day you rock up at the polling booth at your local primary school, church, childcare centre to place your vote, and there’s always a sausage sizzle fundraising for something. A little reward for the stress of election day 😊