Congratulations to surgical registrar Dr Alex Besson, who has received a prestigious and highly competitive award to support his PhD, being completed with the Department of Surgery at Western and University of Melbourne. We asked Alex a bit about it…

“The MACH-Track program allows trainees to complete a PhD alongside clinical training in a structured and supported environment. I’ve been fortunate to be selected as a recipient of this award largely due to the previous body of research I have completed alongside many others at the Western Health Research Department”

“My first exposure to research was during my MDRP at the University of Melbourne, since then I have continued to work with Prof. Justin Yeung and many others at Western Health to complete both prospective and retrospective research projects. Over recent years I have also been involved with the WestSuRG research collaborative which has been successful in contributing in large scale international and domestic research projects.”

“The MACH-Track program is integrated into any clinical training program, and so will allow me to complete my General Surgical training part time at Western Health whilst working towards completing my PhD project.”