For Jana, the operating theatre has always been only part of the story. As a surgical registrar at Gold Coast University Hospital, usually working in paediatric surgery, his immediate focus is on the patient in front of him. But years working across hospitals in Sydney, Melbourne, Newcastle and Brisbane have also given him another perspective: how the systems around healthcare shape the outcomes patients experience.

“I’ve always been interested in how hospital systems run,” he says. “How they can run better for patients and for doctors.”

Those frontline observations gradually revealed a pattern. Highly capable clinicians were often stepping into leadership roles without formal training in the business and organisational realities of running complex healthcare services.

“Many people stepping into executive roles from clinical jobs are not formally trained in business or finance and have to figure it out as they go,” Jana says. “As someone who wants to help hospital systems at that level, and globally, an MBA seemed like a good place to start.”

A defining leadership moment came when Jana became the senior registrar in a small paediatric surgery department mentoring two junior clinicians who had little experience in the specialty.

“It was a year-long process of guiding people who had never worked in paediatric surgery before,” he says. “Showing them everything you don’t learn in medical school or in a textbook, but the real-life side of working in the field.”

The experience was as personally reflective as it was instructional. For Jana, effective leadership is not about hierarchy. It is about culture.

Asked what kind of leader he hopes to become over the next decade; his answer is immediate: “Inspiring.”

He describes the leaders he admires as those who balance authority with openness. People who can take decisive action when needed, but who also create environments where others feel comfortable contributing ideas.

“The most effective departments are the ones where leaders were inspiring rather than intimidating,” he says. “When people feel comfortable speaking up and sharing ideas, the whole team works better and, from a clinical perspective, it always leads to better outcomes for patients.”

Jana thinks about impact at multiple levels. At the bedside, good care can shape a life for decades. In healthcare systems, meaningful change is often incremental.

“Sometimes change happens in really small steps,” he says. “You might only move something a centimetre forward. But those small steps eventually become something bigger.”

That belief is what led him to pursue the MBA and apply for the Alek Safarian MBA Scholarship, which supports emerging leaders in pharmacy, pharmacology, medicine, nursing and science to develop the business and leadership skills needed to influence healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry.

For clinicians weighing whether to apply, Jana's advice is straightforward.

"Just go for it. I didn't think I'd get this far either. If you overthink it, you'll never feel ready. You'll always be comparing yourself to someone else. You don't know anyone else's journey. You only know your own and you have nothing to lose from applying." Jana says.

For professionals in pharmacy, pharmacology, medicine, nursing or science who want to shape the future of healthcare, the Alek Safarian MBA Scholarship offers the opportunity to build leadership and business skills that drive change beyond the clinic.

Learn more about the Alek Safarian MBA Scholarship and how to apply at the University of Sydney Business School.