Griffith grad saves lives by taking flight

Retrieval Registrar Lily Satiowijaya next to the LifeFlight helicopter.

Griffith University alumnus Lily Satiowijaya’s helicopter flights to and from jobs are a little different to the average commute.

Lily, who graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) in 2009 and a Graduate Certificate in Health Services Management in 2018, is now a Retrieval Registrar with RACQ LifeFlight where she helps save the lives of those involved in serious accidents that can only be reached by helicopter.

“I finished med school with quite a firm idea as to which training program I would like to embark on,” Lily said.

“LifeFlight has always been a career goal (and) bucket list item.”

The doctor credits Griffith’s supportive environment and relevant course content for helping her gain the skills needed for the job.

“The opportunity to rotate through all the different aspects of healthcare during placement helped me quite early on to decide which path I would like to take,” she said.

“The high concentration of clinical staff at the medical school allowed discussion into what each of the different pathways of training entails (and) I really liked the relevance of the assessments and teaching contents to clinical applicability.”

When asked what she liked about her job, Lily said she enjoyed that it made a positive impact on people’s lives.

“I love the knowledge that I have made a difference (and) the smiles from patients, family and staff members when we retrieve patients,” she said.

“I also enjoy the ability to look behind the scenes into the giant machine that is Retrieval Services Queensland and witness telehealth in action.”