Thanh Dat Nguyen

Thanh Dat Nguyen is a third-year Bachelor of Biomedicine student majoring in immunology and microbiology — and also completing a Diploma in Languages in Italian. 

"One of the things the University of Melbourne does differently to other universities is that if you are a STEM student, you have to do a breadth, which is like an elective that you choose from outside your main area of study," Nguyen shares. 

"I chose to study Italian because there's a huge population of Italians in Melbourne that I have worked with firsthand and volunteered in a medical capacity.” 

He adds: “Studying Italian makes me a better medical professional.”

The school also offers a suite of subjects tailored to support academic and professional English language development. Open to master’s and PhD students from different faculties and programs across the university, “Presenting Academic Discourse” focuses on the development of postgraduate-level skills in critical reading, writing and the delivery of oral presentations. It integrates English and academic skill development with disciplinary knowledge building — students select topics and readings from their own specialisation, and engage in a series of scaffolded reading, writing and speaking tasks using relevant content.