ARTIENE Tatian is a one-in-a-million. The 21-year-old medical student will stop at nothing to fulfil his dream of becoming a doctor and in his words, "change the world".
The third-year student from Bonnyrigg gets up at 4am three days a week to do the garbage run for Holroyd Council to put himself through his studies.
He gets no handouts as his parents earn too much to qualify him for Abstudy, so it's the garbo run for Mr Tatian before he turns up at Blacktown Hospital each day for his on the job training.
"I was going to be a scientist, but knowing the health problems of our people, I thought how can such a discrepancy happen in such a wealthy country?" Mr Tatian said. It is something this young man, who scored 99.85 in the HSC, plans to change.
"Hopefully, I can change the world," he said.
The worst health outcomes include the remote central Australian communities where Artiene's mother is from, the Arrente people, and it's here he dreams of working.
He's already had a taste, doing a two-week stint outside Alice Springs as part of a learning scholarship.
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