Faculty Award of Excellence: Health
As a young high school graduate in China, Dr Shanshan (Shannon) Lin saw the devastating health impacts of diabetes in her own family. It was then that she decided to dedicate her career to helping people understand and manage life with the condition. She came to UTS as a student in 2009, completing the Graduate Certificate in Diabetes Education and Management, only to return 10 years later as Course Director.
It’s a role she still holds today. Dr Lin is dedicated to ensuring students leave the program empowered and work ready in a field that urgently needs more professionals in practice. The program is now considered one of the most outstanding diabetes courses in Australia – largely in part due to the work of Dr Lin.
With approximately 1.8 million Australians living with diabetes and under 2000 full-time equivalent Credentialled Diabetes Educators (CDEs) in the workforce, Dr Lin saw the issues with such a large gap in specialised diabetes care – especially in remote and rural communities. She has made it her mission to change that.
After completing her Graduate Certificate at UTS, Dr Lin ran the first diabetes prevention program with the Central Sydney Primary Health Network (formerly Central Sydney Division of GPs). Later she led the culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) programs with Diabetes NSW & ACT. Dr Lin further expanded her passion in helping vulnerable groups to Indigenous communities by joining Aboriginal Medical Services (AMS) Redfern as a Lead Diabetes Educator & Dietitian.
Not long after she was appointed Course Director at UTS in 2019, she resigned from her much-loved role at AMS Redfern to run outreach clinics in rural and remote NSW. Dr Lin visits the Coonamble Aboriginal Health Service once a month and Indigenous Chronic Disease Clinic Bathurst, and Illawarra AMS fortnightly. She was named the Jan Baldwin National CDE of the Year and the CDE of the Year NSW for 2023. She also expanded her reach to the international space with Life for a Child, supporting kids and young adults with diabetes in developing countries.
Over the last 20 years, Dr Lin has worked tirelessly to improve health inequalities in Australia. Through upskilling healthcare professionals and giving more people with diabetes access to the equitable and specialised care, she continues to live her purpose while changing lives along the way.
It’s a condition that’s close to my heart. I want to share my experience to further strengthen the diabetes workforce – that is one vital way to improve health inequalities for the vulnerable groups such as Indigenous and CALD communities as well as those living in rural or remote areas. Anything I can do to enhance the health workforces’ capabilities in providing high-quality, accessible and equitable diabetes care to people with diabetes or at risk, I will do it.