The 31-year-old is beginning a four-year traineeship to become a general practitioner, but he cut his teeth working for three years at Anandaban Leprosy Hospital near Kathmandu, in Nepal.

"You don't get a lot of doctors interested in that kind of work," he said.

"Leprosy is a very stigmatised disease not only for the patients, but also for doctors who treat it."

Dr Panday said he hoped his experience with infectious disease in Nepal would be valuable in his new field.

"I would like to place myself in a rural area of Australia to get some experience [for a few years], but after that I'd like to work part-time in Australia and part-time in Nepal," he said.

- Matt Carr