Geraldine Buckingham
Geraldine Buckingham
- Degree type: Double Degree
- Degree(s): Bachelor of Medical Science and Doctor of Medicine (MD)
Formerly Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery (now Bachelor of Medical Science and Doctor of Medicine)
Growing up, Geraldine Buckingham always wanted to study medicine. She hadn’t anticipated taking a different path, following a series of opportunities that would eventually lead her to become the Global Head of Corporate Strategy at BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager with $4.9 trillion of assets under management.
After graduating with an MBBS degree from Monash, Geraldine was awarded a Rhodes scholarship in 2003. She went on to study Comparative Social Policy at Oxford before pursuing a career in the corporate world. Despite the seemingly diverse set of experiences across medicine, consulting and financial services, Geraldine firmly believes it was the medical experience early in her career which set her up for success, irrespective of the job or industry.
Geraldine also had the opportunity to pursue her final year medical elective in Kenya as well as an exchange program at King’s College in London. “Studying abroad really showed me how big the world was, and the multitude of opportunities that were available.”
The most important skills she gained at the Monash Medical School were “interacting with people, problem solving and maintaining perspective.” She finds these transferable skills relevant and applicable to her current job in the corporate world. Monash's emphasis on developing doctors with strong people skills in particular has helped Geraldine smoothly transition from medicine to management.
“My career path may have been unorthodox, but my time at Monash was very foundational to where I am now. I now have clients rather than patients, and spend my time problem solving rather than diagnosing – but there is a lot of commonality in the two skill sets.”