Marita Bolic is a fifth-year undergraduate medical student at James Cook University in Cairns, Queensland. She is passionate about equitable health access, and the intersection of politics and healthcare in achieving positive health outcomes for all Australians.

With the support of an ACT Health Vacation Scholarship, Marita undertook her first research project in paediatric emergency medicine in 2022 under the supervision of Dr Jamie Lew and Prof Drew Richardson. She presented the findings of this research at the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM)’s Annual Scientific Meeting in 2023, being honoured with the PREDICT Prize for the best paper that addresses an important topic in paediatric emergency medicine. She has continued this interest in research with the Australian Medical Student Association’s Medical Education division.

Throughout her time in medical school, Marita has developed a growing passion for reproductive health. She is interested in understanding patient attitudes towards the use of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs), particularly intrauterine devices (IUDs). With the support of Dr Talat Uppal, she is researching barriers and enablers to IUD insertion in Australia, a management option for heavy menstrual bleeding. She looks forward to contributing to reproductive health research through this project.