Dr Carole Poloso was completing the final stage of her ophthalmology master’s degree at the Pacific Eye Institute, University of Fiji, when Susanne Bradley talked to her about her journey into eyecare in the Pacific.
Dr Carole Poloso grew up in Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands. The eldest of four siblings, she says her parents did the best they could with the little they had to ensure their children received a quality education.
Becoming a doctor wasn’t Poloso’s first choice. “People do what they do for many reasons. For me, coming from a culture where the norm is to respect and obey what your parents say, there wasn’t much of a choice. I had the grades to go to medical school and my father wanted to me to do medicine, so that’s what I ended up doing.”
Initially she fought against the idea and says she would have preferred to study architecture but eventually conceded. “Because I was the first born, there were expectations of me. And, as a daughter, it was built in me to respect and obey my parents. Now, I’m forever grateful to them as it has allowed me to be where I am today.”
For Dr Poloso and many others in the Pacific with limited opportunities to study in their home country, pursuing a university degree is not easily accomplished.
