Doctor shares journey
IT’S OK to fail as long as you get up and try again.
For Dr Merelita Goneyali, 49, who hails from Vatukarasa, Tailevu, these words are kept close to her heart. She is currently a specialist pathologist at IQ Pathology which comes under a private company, called Healius Pathology in Australia.
Dr Goneyali, who has maternal links to Kocoma, Cakaudrove, chose to go into medicine because of the exposure she had to the medical field since she was young. She is the eldest of three siblings and her two younger brothers are also in the medical field, one a nurse in the US and the other a doctor at CWM Hospital.
“My father was a surgeon and I also have an uncle, Dr Serupepeli Goneyali, who is now retired. So I think this was a factor in what made medicine appealing to me at a young age. I was exposed to it. In Labasa, we would walk to the hospital and hang out there to wait until my dad was finished from work, then we would all travel together back home,” she said.
Dr Goneyali spent her primary school years in all the areas where her father was posted to from the various parts of the Lau Group to Labasa. The bulk of her childhood was spent at Labasa Primary School until Class 8.
“My childhood had a very strict upbringing, very disciplined, very goal oriented. My parents were intentional and academic driven. Growing up, we had chores to do each day together with school work and slept at a certain time and were expected to perform at school at a certain level and that was from Class 1 through to secondary.”
She had attended Adi Cakobau School from 1988 to 1990, and left to spend one year in the United Kingdom before returning to finish off Form 7 at ACS in 1992.
For her tertiary education, she attended Fiji School of Medicine where she obtained her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree in 2005.
After she had obtained her MBBS, she went through postgrad training in New Zealand where she did post grad study for seven years. She said it was a difficult program to get into as there were only certain number of positions available throughout Australia and New Zealand and was even more challenging to finish.
“In the end, I graduated with a Fellowship with the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (FRCPA). For the first time in my life and I failed two exams - I was disappointed and wanted to give up, pack my bags and go back to Fiji,” she said.
She highlighted that her mum, who was very influential in her life and her mentor, called throughout her seven years of study without fail every Saturday morning to give encouragement and to never give up.
Dr Goneyali stated that she had learnt the valuable lesson that failure was part and parcel of growth and life as the power of positive affirmations.
“I also learnt the power of prayer and the power of positive affirmations, positive encouragement that was constantly spoken to me by my mum. She was a woman of integrity, very honest and hardworking, driven, ambitious and had a wicked sense of humour. I hope some of these qualities have rubbed off on me.”
Dr Goneyali stated her biggest challenge to date is trying to balance motherhood and a busy professional life in Australia where her two daughters and herself do not have the luxury of help from relatives living in Australia
“It is a teamwork effort for my girls and I to work together each day to get things done.
“My daughters are my inspiration and they are the reason I get up every day. They inspire me to become the best version of myself.”
Her advice to young people is never to put a limit to your potential.
“Do not compare yourself with anyone. Pursue your dreams and remember education is a key that can open doors. Life is short so do things that set your heart on fire.”
I also learnt the power of prayer and the power of positive affirmations, positive encouragement that was constantly spoken to me by my mum
– Dr Merelita Goneyali