Career in sports medicine off to energetic start for Box Hill North student

Box Hill North resident Matthew Quittner's career is off to a healthy start.

Matthew has gained a place in the Science and Technology Dean's Scholars Program at Deakin University in recognition of his outstanding academic achievement.

Matthew was awarded the scholarship after he achieved an ENTER of 96.25 in his final year at The Knox School and gained admission to the Bachelor of Biomedical Science degree at Deakin University. As a Dean's Scholar he will receive academic mentoring, $5,000 annually and the opportunity to include an industry-based learning placement as part of his degree.

Matthew says the scholarship money will help pay his university fees which will give him a further advantage when he graduates.

"I won't have any HECS hanging over my head which will mean I am starting ahead of the competition when I graduate," he said.

Whilst most students may equate achieving high grades with a lot of sacrifice, Matt's advice is that it is more than achievable.

"I made the most of my time. I have always been good at organising things and found by managing my time I did not have to sacrifice much at all. I got a lot of my homework and study done at school during spare periods, and then I could do what I wanted when I got home," he said.

"I had no idea I would get [an ENTER of] 96, it really is possible to achieve if you work hard. I applied myself to every subject, so all my scores were quite even which made for a high overall mark."

Matthew has a keen interest in sport which, combined with his aptitude for science, was a key factor in his study choice. He plans to undertake further study once he has completed his degree, probably in some area of sports medicine. He is excited about the opportunity to be involved in the industry-based learning program and plans to get as much experience in as many different fields as he can while studying.

"The Dean's Scholars Program was set up to attract high-achieving students to science and technology courses at Deakin University," said Associate Dineli Mather, Associate Dean (Development) of Deakin University's Faculty of Science and Technology.

"We are delighted to welcome such gifted young students to the Faculty. We provide students in the program the support and guidance they need to reach their full potential.

"Dean's Scholars get assigned an academic mentor for the duration of their course to help them with their studies and their career development. We also run a professional development program for our high achievers and many of these students go onto our industry-based learning program where they get paid while they get graduate level work experience in their discipline."