Where are they now?: Dr Maithri Goonetilleke (1997)

Maithri graduated from Carey in 1997 and went on to obtain a Bachelor of Biomedical Science from Monash University and a combined Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery/ Bachelor of Medical Science from the University of Melbourne in 2006, before completing a PhD at Monash University in 2019 based on the structural issues of HIV.

He has devoted his life to addressing global health inequity and has worked in many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, Eswatini, where he established the not-for-profit organisation Possible Dreams International to address issues associated with HIV. His commitment to the principles of primary health care and ‘health for all’ is demonstrated locally in his clinical practice as the Chief Medical Officer of a correctional centre and as a part-time rural general practitioner with a focus on First Nations communities. In these roles, Maithri provides healthcare to prisoner and rural communities, which continue to be under-serviced and have poorer health outcomes than the wider population.

‘When we internalise the understanding that every human being, regardless of their circumstances is created equal, then it changes the way we live our lives,’ Maithri says.

Recognising the role that young people can play in shaping a more inclusive society, Maithri was instrumental in starting a program at Carey where university students from ethnic minorities worked with our students to address issues of racial prejudice, implicit bias, bullying and structural discrimination.

In 2019, Maithri was selected by the World Assembly of Sciences and InterAcademy Partnership as one of the world’s young physician leaders of the year. Maithri now works at Monash University as an Associate Professor of Global Health and is a passionate medical educator of global health.