Name: 在澳洲讀博的生活點滴：與 Mao 聊聊澳洲的學生日常！ (Pursuing a PhD Down Under: Thoughts on Student Life in Australia With Robin Mao)
Uploaded: 2026-01-14T17:39:31.000Z
Duration: 20 min 53 s

Welcome back to another edition of Breaking Boundaries, the world's premier podcast for international students.

歡迎回到 Breaking Boundaries，這是專為國際學生打造的頂尖播客。

未來簡單式

And someday we'll figure out the lighting.

總有一天我們會搞定燈光問題的。

I'm joined today by an esteemed guest, Robin Mao, who is originally from Chennai, India, but

今天很高興邀請到一位很棒的來賓，Robin Mao，他原本來自印度金奈，

is currently pursuing a PhD program in Sydney, Australia.

Raman, it's great to have you on the podcast.

Raman，很高興你能來到我們的播客。

So, Robin, I thought you'd be a great guest because we have not yet had the perspective of someone who is studying in Australia.

所以 Robin，我覺得你會是很棒的來賓，因為我們還沒有機會聽到在澳洲讀書的同學的觀點。

But I'd like to start a little bit about your background.

Like me, it sounds like you had one profession and decided to shift gears.

聽起來你跟我一樣，曾經從事一個行業，然後決定轉換跑道。

So tell me a little bit about what you were doing before you arrived down under.

所以，可以稍微聊聊你來到澳洲之前，都在做些什麼嗎？

I think medicine runs in my family, so I've got quite a few doctors and dentists in my family.

我想醫學是我們家的傳統，我有很多親戚是醫生和牙醫。

And I think growing up I was under the impression that that was the career path that I would end up choosing at the end of my schooling.

我從小就覺得，這應該是我讀書畢業後會選擇的職業道路。

And true enough, at the end of high school, I chose to pursue dentistry in India.

果然，高中畢業後，我選擇到印度唸牙醫。

I absolutely loved the program, or rather I love certain aspects of it, but

我非常喜歡這個科系，或者說，我喜歡其中的某些部分，但是

I couldn't really see myself working as a clinical dentist for the rest of my life.

我實在無法想像自己餘生都要當個臨床醫生。

So having that background and having some, you know, some parts of medicine that appealed to me, I thought that the best course of action would be to pursue public health, which I guess focused on those parts that I really liked.

所以，有這樣的背景，加上醫學裡有些部分確實吸引我，我認為最好的做法就是攻讀公共衛生，我想這正好能專注在我真正喜歡的那些方面。

Now, you know, no, you know, nothing against India, but

現在，你知道，不是說印度不好，

Australia actually has one of the best public health education systems in the world.

但澳洲其實擁有世界上數一數二的公共衛生教育體系。

而且這可能也是其中一個原因，

a part of that reason might be because they have an excellent universal healthcare system there.

部分原因可能是因為他們那裡有很棒的全民健保系統。

所以對我來說，這根本不是問題。

The UK a bit too rainy, Canada a bit too cold.

英國有點太濕冷，加拿大又有點太冷。

所以澳洲對我來說就是最佳選擇。

And yeah, after finishing graduation, after graduating dental school, I really didn't work a single day in the profession I started looking for, or rather even in my last year of dentistry, I started looking for postgrad programs in Australia, finalized on the one that I ended up doing, which was a double Master's program at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, or unsw.

然後，嗯，大學畢業後，牙醫學院畢業後，我其實一天都沒有從事我原本的專業，或者說，甚至在牙醫系的最後一年，我就開始尋找澳洲的研究所課程，最後確定了我最終選擇的那個，也就是在新南威爾斯大學雪梨校區，也就是UNSW的雙碩士學位課程。

It had both a Master of Public Health and a Master of Health Management.

它同時包含了公共衛生碩士和健康管理碩士。

And the way I thought about it was, well, you know, maybe this program might make me think of whether I want to work in the private health sector or the public health sector, but, you know, definitely with a broader scope than say a clinician.

我的想法是，嗯，你知道，也許這個課程會讓我思考，我到底想在私人醫療體系工作，還是公共衛生體系工作，但，你知道，肯定會比像臨床醫生那樣的範圍更廣。

It's a two year program which was as long as other programs offering just One master's degree and you know, in India we love a bargain.

這是一個兩年的課程，跟其他只提供一個碩士學位的課程一樣長，而且，你知道，在印度，我們都很喜歡划算的交易。

So we thought why not get two for the price of one.

所以我們就想說，為什麼不一次拿兩個呢？

And yeah, absolutely love my time there and I won't run ton, I guess and wait for a follow up question.

然後，嗯，我非常喜歡在那裡的時光，我不會滔滔不絕，我想，等待下一個問題。

Oh, listen, I rant away, the format is yours, but I wanted to ask, you mentioned uk.

喔，聽著，我說了好多，流程是你的，但我想問，你提到了英國。

Thinking about Australia outside the context of the particular program, is there some benefit in proximity too?

撇開這個特定課程不談，澳洲在距離上有沒有什麼優勢？

I mean, you're closer both in time and space.

我的意思是，你在時間和空間上都更近了。

Was that a big, was that a big factor for you?

這對你來說是一個重要的考量嗎？

I think so, especially with, you know, I guess the strong sense of filial piety in India.

我想是的，尤其是在印度，你知道，我猜有很強的孝道觀念。

I think you do want to be close to home and you know, the UK is alright, but

我想你還是想離家近一點，你知道，英國還可以，但是

the Americas are just a bit too far away.

So I think, yeah, I guess I was talking about some of the academic factors that informed my decision.

所以我想，嗯，我猜我剛剛在講一些影響我決定的學術因素。

But yeah, I think personal factors as well, such as being in close proximity to my home back in India helped influence my final decision.

但對，我也覺得個人因素，像是離我在印度的老家比較近，也幫助影響了我最後的決定。

I love the Confucian reference to filial piety in the States.

我喜歡美國那種儒家孝道的說法。

You know, I went to a school that was three, three states away, about 1,500 kilometers and to me it felt like I was at the end of the world.

你知道，我唸的學校離家三個州，大概一千五百公里，對我來說感覺就像在世界的盡頭一樣。

But you've certainly taken a greater leap.

但你確實是跨出了更大的一步。

So when you got there for the master's program, you already had deep education experience back home.

所以當你到澳洲讀碩士學位課程時，你其實在家裡已經有很深的教育經驗了。

Was there anything that surprised you about the university system in Australia, especially at the graduate level?

澳洲的大學系統，特別是研究所的部分，有沒有什麼讓你感到驚訝的？

I think everything about my program surprised me.

我覺得我的學程裡，所有的一切都讓我很驚訝。

So studying dentistry in India, I don't think it would be that much different studying it in Australia, for example.

所以在印度唸牙醫，我覺得跟在澳洲唸牙醫，例如，應該不會有太大的差別。

But when you're in the medical field, I think the onus is on you to memorize as much as possible because, you know, you might be, you know, amazing in logic or you might be amazing in critical thinking, but

但如果你是在醫學領域，我覺得責任就在你身上，要盡可能地記住越多越好，因為，你知道的，你可能在邏輯方面很厲害，或者在批判性思考方面很厲害，但是

if you don't know what you're referring to, if you don't have a point of reference, what is the normal value of a certain, I don't know, compound in your body or whatever it is, if you don't really know what you're talking about, then your critical thinking doesn't really come in play.

如果你不知道你在參考什麼，如果你沒有一個參考點，某個化合物在你體內的正常值是多少，我不知道，或者任何東西，如果你真的不知道你在說什麼，那麼你的批判性思考就派不上用場了。

So in India for five years, I had to memorize facts, taking as many pictures and text as possible and then applied my knowledge, applied my critical thinking when I actually got to work with patients.

所以在印度五年，我必須記住事實，盡可能地記下圖片和文字，然後在我真正開始和病患互動時，應用我的知識，應用我的批判性思考。

Whereas in Australia, because I wasn't doing a master's in clinical dentistry and I was doing a master's in public health.

然而在澳洲，因為我不是在唸臨床牙醫的碩士，而是在唸公共衛生碩士。

Public health, you Know, well, it's really an umbrella term.

公共衛生，你知道的，嗯，它其實是一個總稱。

It doesn't really talk about one thing or the other.

它並沒有真正談論某個特定的東西。

But I guess one way of looking at it is that rather than thinking about one patient and their physical and biological characteristics, you're taking a step back and looking at the population.

但我想，一種看待它的方式是，與其思考單一個病患及其生理和生物特徵，不如退一步，從人口的角度來看。

So you're looking at many things that influence a population's health.

所以你是在看很多影響人口健康的東西。

You might have heard about the determinants of health.

So we have social and political and economic and of course biomedical determinants of health as well.

所以我們有社會、政治、經濟，當然還有生物醫學的健康決定因素。

So taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture really took some getting used to.

所以退一步看大局，真的需要一些時間來適應。

Apart from that, back in India for dental school, I used to go in six days a week.

除此之外，回到印度唸牙醫學校時，我一週要去六天。

I used to work, I had classes from 8:30 to, I think 4:30, Monday to Friday and then I worked half days and Saturdays.

我得工作，我的課是從早上 8:30 到，我想是下午 4:30，週一到週五，然後我週六上半天班。

所以這是一個非常嚴格的時間表。

So we would have one class from 8:30 to 9:30 and so on.

所以我們會有一個從 8:30 到 9:30 的課，以此類推。

Whereas in Australia, much like in America, I imagine you get to choose your classes.

而在澳洲，就像在美國一樣，我想你可以自己選課。

So I might have had three classes a week and one class might have been at 9pm because in Australia postgrad classes tend to be a bit later on in the day to consider that some of the students taking those classes might also have full time jobs.

所以我一週可能只有三堂課，而其中一堂課可能在晚上 9 點，因為在澳洲，研究所課程通常會安排在一天比較晚的時間，以考慮到上這些課程的學生可能也有全職工作。

And it so happened that especially people studying health management, people you know, who have had full fledged careers and were almost using this program to progress in their careers rather than someone like me who is using it to jumpstart my career.

而且碰巧的是，特別是那些攻讀健康管理碩士的人，你知道，他們已經有豐富的職業生涯，並且幾乎是利用這個課程來推進他們的事業，而不是像我這樣，是利用它來開啟我的職業生涯。

So having that flexibility I think, well, made me more responsible as a person because I really had to think about what interested me, which classes I really wanted to go for in a particular semester and then actually make it a point to show up for those classes because I don't think a technique was mandatory in most cases.

所以我覺得，嗯，這種彈性讓我這個人變得更有責任感，因為我真的必須思考什麼東西會讓我感興趣，哪個課程我真的很想在某個學期去上，然後真的要設法去上那些課，因為我不認為大多數情況下點名是強制性的。

So going from a very rigid system where I think if you didn't show up you might be reprimanded for it back in India, to a place where you should be following your passion and it should all be coming from the student rather than the teacher.

所以從一個非常嚴格的制度，我記得如果在印度不去上課可能會被責備，到一個地方，你應該追隨你的熱情，而且這一切都應該來自學生而不是老師。

我聽過其他人也有類似的經歷。

And it's funny, I had something of a reverse experience in college, particularly in the latter years.

而且很有趣的是，我在大學，特別是後期，有過一種相反的經歷。

I had great flexibility and then I went to law school and it was similar to your undergraduate experience where there were real consequences for missing classes.

我有很多彈性，然後我去了法學院，那和你的大學經歷很像，缺課會有真正的後果。

But I very much empathize with that feeling of being a bit unmoored, adapting to the profound flexibility of the class schedule, aside from the Master's program itself.

但我非常能體會那種有點迷失方向的感覺，適應課程表那種極大的彈性，這還不包括碩士課程本身。

Had you been there before you went there to study, or was that your first impression of the.

你是去讀書之前就去過雪梨，還是那是你對這個地方的第一印象？

I think I did go to Sydney on a family trip, you know, light years ago.

我想我以前跟家人去雪梨玩過，你知道，很久很久以前。

But, you know, apart from some, I guess, the faintest memories that I have of the place, I didn't really know the place when I went back to it, I guess in 2018, which was when my master's degree program commenced.

不過，除了我對那裡僅存的一些、我猜是最模糊的記憶之外，我回去的時候其實對那裡並不真的熟悉，我想那是在 2018 年，也就是我的碩士學位課程開始的時候。

Honestly, I didn't find the city hard to adapt to because, you know, getting around is so convenient.

說實話，我覺得這個城市沒有很難適應，因為你知道，交通很方便。

I really want to talk about my accommodation as well, if you have the time in Australia, please.

我也很想聊聊我在澳洲的住宿，如果你有時間的話，請說。

So, yeah, just to get on that, I stayed on campus now, you know, back in India, I went through an education agency that, you know, put in my application and all of that.

所以，是的，我住在學校宿舍，你知道，在印度的時候，我透過一家教育機構申請的，他們幫我處理了所有申請事宜。

印度就是一個非常注重服務的國家。

You know, there's a service for everything.

你知道，什麼事情都有專門的服務。

And I think you'd find it quite uncommon to find someone filling out an application on their own.

我想你會覺得，很少有人會自己填寫申請表，這很不尋常。

So I went through an agency to secure a place at university in Sydney, and

所以呢，我是透過代辦機構申請雪梨的大學，

the agency set up this little meet and greet with other people starting uni at the same time as I did.

然後那間代辦機構就安排了一個小型的迎新會，跟一些跟我同期入學的同學見面。

And, you know, one thing that I guess is peculiar about me is, you know, I like to have a routine.

然後，你知道，我比較特別的一點是，我喜歡有規律的生活。

I don't really like to go out of my comfort zone, especially when I'm doing something for the first time.

我不太喜歡跳脫舒適圈，尤其是我第一次做某件事的時候。

So I was thinking, hey, you know, it would be amazing if I could just stay on campus and be close to my classes.

所以我就想說，嘿，如果我能住在校內，離教室近一點，那該有多好。

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在澳洲讀博的生活點滴：與 Mao 聊聊澳洲的學生日常！ (Pursuing a PhD Down Under: Thoughts on Student Life in Australia With Robin Mao)

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