Following the success from last year’s event, the Hellenic Medical Society of Australia (HMSA) and the Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM) held their second HMSA Careers Day on Saturday, May 3.
This event brought together 40 esteemed Greek Australian professionals representing a range of industries, 10 university (NUGAS) students and over 130 parents and students.
The day commenced with a panel discussion including:
- A/Prof Marinis Pirpiris – Orthopaedic Surgeon, President of HMSA, Treasurer of GCM
- Yianni Zaparas – Personal Injury Lawyer, Partner at Zaparas law firm
- The Honourable Associate Justice Ierodiaconou – Principal Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria
- Prof Vasso Apostolopoulos – Distinguished Professor, Professor of Immunology, Head of the Healthy Lifespan and Chronic Diseases Program, RMIT
- Maria Mavrikos – Managing Director Structural Challenge, Founder & CEO of Steel Chicks
- Helen Mantzis – Board Member of The Australian Ballet and the Hellenic Museum, Founder of KHGM Consulting & startup app Loopels.
The theme this year was wellbeing and the professionals shared examples of how they have worked on maintaining their wellbeing throughout their careers.
Dr Arthur Kokkinias, psychiatrist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, also separated wellbeing into four distinct but linked components including spiritual, emotional, physical and social. Elysia McKinlay, developmental psychologist, took the students and parents through a breathing exercise as a way of re-grouping during stressful situations.
Following the panel discussion, the students joined the professionals and NUGAS students in the breakout rooms that were divided into medicine/dentistry, law/politics/law enforcement, science/IT, allied health, business, education/arts/media/creative arts.
These breakout rooms offered opportunities for students to connect with professionals one-on-one and to seek personalised career advice.
HMSA extended thanks to to Adj Prof Paul Eleftheriou (Principal at the Nous Group), Dr Billy Stoupas (specialist General Practitioner), Dr James Dimou (Neurosurgeon at the Royal Melbourne Hospital), Dr Hector Georgiou (Fertility & IVF specialist at Melbourne IVF), Fotini Kypraios (Chair of the Hellenic Australian Chamber of Commerce, Victoria), Dr Betty Exintaris (Associate Dean, Learning & Teaching, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, Monash University) and Kristian Raspa (Head of School (years 10-12) & Director of Hellenism at St John’s College) for their assistance throughout the panel and breakout room discussions.
As per A/Prof Marinis Pirpiris said: “Mentorship like this plays a pivotal role in shaping the trajectories of our secondary school students, particularly when guided by successful professionals. Mentorship changes a student’s perception by turning abstract career concepts into tangible possibilities. This type of support plays a crucial role in relieving the stress related to looming career decisions.”
Mr Raspa added: “Initiatives like these are vital — they connect generations, expand bridges of collaboration, and inspire young Greek Australians to pursue excellence across a range of fields while staying connected to their heritage.”
Dr Athina Pirpiris, who helped to organise the event, said “the HMSA Careers Day is designed to help students build networks at the secondary, tertiary and professional levels, but also to help them understand that they belong to a community with a wealth of career experience and success which is eager to support their personal and professional journeys, both collectively and individually.”
Parents reflected on the HMSA Careers Day as an event they wish they had available whilst at school.
Student feedback included things like: “I appreciated the opportunity to meet the professionals and university students more closely in the breakout rooms,” “I loved the fact there was ‘speed networking’ to get to talk to the professionals one-on-one,” and “I really enjoyed learning from the professionals about practical ways to maintain wellbeing.”
The HMSA and GCM would like to extend a sincere thank you to:
- All the professionals for making themselves available to talk to and inspire the younger generations of Greek Australians.
- All the NUGAS students who attended and helped with the running of the day in addition to the breakout rooms.
- All the students and parents who attended.
- The staff at the Greek Community of Melbourne for their facilitation of the event.
- HMSA sponsors including: DBG Health, the Hellenic Museum, Greek Media Group, Mantzis Family Trust, Directed Electronics Australia, Zaparas Lawyers and Accountancy Group.
- Event sponsors including: Oasis Coffee, Gavos Freight Solutions, Bravo Drinks, Taki’s pastry lab.
The feedback once again has been overwhelmingly positive, paving the way for similar events in the future.
*All photos by Costas Deves.
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