Zarah Adaniel always felt in tune with nature and the human body, but her cultural background propelled her into a career in banking and finance. Later, realising the profession involved long hours for little joy, Zarah decided to change her path.
“At first, I didn’t know what to do, but I’m a hands-on person and I enjoy helping others, so I did beauty therapy and massage,” Zarah says. “After I had children and started working part-time, I decided to study naturopathy part-time. At Endeavour College, I stumbled upon Chinese medicine and jumped ship. I really like that the profession is accredited and that everything is evidence-based.
“Chinese medicine requires intuition and care. Some of the skills I used in banking and finance like attention to detail are also useful in my practice,” she says. “You’ve got to be on the ball when you’re putting needles in people. You also need empathy to be able to read what a person is trying to say, sometimes without saying it.”
During her fourth year at the college, Zarah enjoyed the hands-on aspect that the student clinic offered. “With Chinese medicine, I love that I can see the results straight away. People would walk out of the clinic feeling better than when they walked in,” she says. “I learned so much from my clinic supervisors and fellow students during that time.
“The beauty of Endeavour is that there are people of different ages and from different career backgrounds. As a mature-age student, it was important to me that everyone is welcome. In the clinic, we’d partner with another student to deliver treatments. Each student would come to a case with a perspective, and everyone was willing to share their knowledge.”
Zarah recently graduated with a Bachelor of Health Science (Acupuncture) from Endeavour’s Brisbane Campus earlier this year and has found her niche with women’s health, fertility, pain management, anxiety and depression. Among her busy schedule, she’s also found time to practise her skills at home. “My two sons are really into acupuncture and always volunteer and sometimes I catch my husband between his work shifts,” she laughs.
Most importantly, Zarah has found joy. “I love reading classic texts, some of which are about techniques that are more than 3000 years old. Today, with the amount of research that’s taken place since then, we’ve also got the evidence base to support these traditional practices.”
With three new Chinese medicine course offerings now available at Endeavour, Zarah says she’d love to return and learn more about Chinese medicine herbal formulas. “I’m fascinated. There’s always something to learn,” she says.
Campus locations
Adelaide, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney.
Learn through practice
Each campus has an on-site Endeavour Wellness Clinic, where theoretical knowledge comes to life for students. Endeavour College’s Health Science degrees include hundreds of hours of hands-on learning with real clients. This clinical experience sets Endeavour College graduates apart and gives them confidence to begin their clinical practice.
Endless career choices
Endeavour College graduates can work as clinical practitioners in their own clinic or a multi-modality clinic alongside other clinicians. Many graduates are now taking their clinical practice to the client by offering mobile services as well as online using digital technology to give access to clients at a distance. In addition to clinical practice, graduates have countless non-practitioner careers available to them. These natural health specialist careers range from content creation to education to consulting and advising. With such a variety of careers available, Endeavour College graduates have the luxury of designing their careers to fit their passions, aspirations and lifestyle.
A bright future
There’s never been a better time to study natural medicine.
Already a $5.6 billion industry, Australia’s complementary medicines health sector has seen a considerable acceleration in growth in the last five years and continues to outpace growth in the broader economy*. With a strong consumer focus on preventative healthcare, the future looks bright for our graduates.
*Complementary Medicines Australia Industry Audit & Trends (2020).
Connect with Endeavour College today.
T: 1300 462 887
W: endeavour.edu.au
