Mark Mackay

Qualifications

Bachelor of Science ( Adelaide 1986).

Hons (Flinders 1987).

Bachelor of Economics ( Adelaide around 1990).

Bachelor of Commerce ( Adelaide around 1995).

Current place of employment

Department of Health.

Previous employment

Various: Human Services, Treasury and Finance, Parliament, Economic Development Authority, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Women’s and Children’s Hospital, SA Health Commission, KPF.

Current job activities

Health system analysis and research.

Enjoyable aspects of job

The people and the issues I work on.

Difficult aspects of job

The health system funding arrangements.

Maintenance of skills and professional knowledge

Various mechanisms including email alerting systems, seminars, conferences, networks and current phd studies.

Future goals

completion of phd, additional publications stemming from my research.

Words of advice to new and current students:

No study is wasted. It enables you to gain skills that can be applied in a wide variety of circumstances – not just the ones you might think you’re there to learn.

There are also many ways of doing things and every school of thought promotes it’s own ways as being better. Learn many different approaches from different schools of thinking so that you become a wider thinker. This will give you a better chance of viewing problems from a multiple perspective.

Did you have a clear idea of what you wanted as a career before you started University, while you were there, or on graduation?

Yes, but I didn’t end up there, which was probably the best thing!

What was the most important lesson you learnt at the University of Adelaide?

You never stop learning!

What did you like most about your time at the University of Adelaide?

Ability to study a wide range of topics, and the relationships developed over the years.