Introducing Rebecca and Bertrand Drugeon: A Journey from France to Australia with AVATAR

Bonjour!

My name is Rebecca Drugeon, I’m from France, and I've come to Brisbane for 1 year with my husband, Bertrand, and our 6-month-old baby, Ava.

We are currently living an incredible experience, both professionally and personally.

Bertrand is an emergency physician at Poitiers University Hospital with a strong passion for improving the prevention of complications and management of PIVCs. He’s actually a PhD student in France; it’s his first year in doctoral school and he has to do an university mobility placement to become an associate professor in France. He is lucky enough to be able to work with Claire's team and the AVATAR group. Bertrand and his mentor, Prof Olivier Mimoz, began collaborating 2 years ago with Claire's team and the PropTrial.

I'm a clinical nurse. I worked in the ICU for 4 years, and now I am working in emergency and pre-hospital care for 7 years, in Poitiers. In Brisbane, I have had the incredible opportunity to join Claire’s team, Infection Prevention and Vascular Access, in the University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research (UQCCR), as a research assistant, giving me a wealth of research experience and the chance to improve my English.

Claire's entire team is so friendly and has made us feel very welcome, making us feel (almost) at home! Thanks to them!

In addition to all this, we have the chance to visit an extraordinary country with a strong culture, a good quality of life, rich in flora and fauna, with a multitude of animals, trees and tropical plants, plus Shapes biscuits and vegemite!