I am a mature aged student with a background as a solicitor. Having been raised on an Aboriginal community and strongly encouraged by my uncles and aunts as an adolescent/teenager, I sought a career as a lawyer to help my people. My career included working as initially as an inhouse bank lawyer, then a lawyer in private practise, to a government lawyer in Queensland and work in Aboriginal community organisations, then to a government lawyer in the Northern Territory, then finally back to Aboriginal community organisations in NSW.

My decision to pursue a career change as a medical doctor developed from a combination of numerous experiences, however it was my working in child protection, that was the ultimate stimulus to committing to return to university to study medicine.

This experience involved in 2012, two children from one family, under the age of 5 years, being removed from a young Aboriginal mother and being placed with their non-Aboriginal Father’s mother in Brisbane, Queensland, notwithstanding the significant change(s) the mother had made to resolve/improve the grounds the children being removed initially.

Coupled with the above was continually observing numerous family and other community members my own age and younger, succumbing to a myriad of preventable conditions.

Coupled with my own personal and familial life experiences and having worked in both the public sector within child protection and in Indigenous community not for profit organisations, I am very well aware of the challenges my people face generally and more specifically health.

This insight was even more acutely made clear with a recent elective placement in paediatrics in Darwin Hospital in the Northern Territory where I observed numerous Indigenous children being afflicted with Rheumatic heart disease. Adding to this is the fact that I have both nieces and nephews afflicted with this condition

My plan from the outset of my studies has been to attain a solid grounding in my undergraduate medical studies, internship and residency years that would sustain my future career as a general practitioner working an Aboriginal medical service in the Northern Territory, preferably in or around ‘Top End’.

In due course, practising as a medical doctor is but one aspect to helping my people. Other aspects include demonstrating that as a mature aged Aboriginal man that it is possible to change careers and/or attain a medical qualification. Further, to facilitate education on options to my people to fully comprehend and take control of their health by providing information on the condition and ways that its progress may be altered. Finally, to travel to, and work in, communities enabling ready access to medical service(s).

Whilst prior to receipt of the Australian Rotary Indigenous Medical Scholarship, I do wish to share my achievements between completing my fifth year of study in 2023 to current.
Upon completing fifth year, I was afforded the privilege of undertaking my placement in paediatrics in Darwin through the Royal Darwin Hospital. My placement was for a period of four (4) weeks and was rotated through two separate paediatric wards, paediatric clinics and special care nursery. I was also permitted to attend on a community outreach to an Aboriginal community, Gunbalunya.

Further, during my placement, I was able to both observe and take part in assessing children in the hospital and the community. This was deeply rewarding as it exposed me to varied health conditions I had not encountered previously, for instance acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD), and functional pain syndrome. ARF & RHD are both particularly topics that are particularly of interest due to nieces and nephews or mine are currently and will continue to be affected going forward by these conditions.

As an additional optional self-learning tool, I selected a number of cases I observed , to research, learn from and to submit for feedback by then supervising doctors in the NT.

As my second elective, I elected to undertake a placement in Hanoi Vietnam, wherein I was afforded the privilege of being placed in the Obstetrics and Gynaecological department within the Hanoi Medical University hospital. This placement was also for four (4) weeks. As previous, I likewise selected and researched a number of cases with which I encountered and submitted for feedback to my supervising doctor.

My goal for undertaking a placement in Vietnam, ultimately rested on observing a health system distinctive from Australia so as to provide a contrast. The experience provided precisely the contrast learning sought. On my rotation within the obstetrics and gynaecology department in Vietnam, the number of women to rooms whilst comparable to Australia, the ratio of medical personnel to women on each rotation was approximately 8:1. This appeared to create for an uncomfortable experience for the women.

Aside from the obstetrics and gynaecology department, I was also able to observe service provision of other departments, for instance the emergency and the infectious disease(s) departments. The ratio of medical personnel here was again very different in that the ratio appeared to be significantly more in favour of patients to medical personnel. The overflow of patient seating was such that patients were place outside of the department reception area and into the courtyard and wait time experienced by patients appeared to be significantly longer. For instance, I would usually arrive at the hospital around 6.30am and patients were already in the overflow seating area and appeared to be there after I finished morning rounds at around 10am.

Another aspect I found disquieting was the availability and or accessibility of health data and or statistics. For instance, information usually freely available and accessible respecting Australian data, was unable to be accessed concerning Vietnam. Further, information that was accessible was often in excess of 5 years and limited.

Since returning to Australia in March, I have now completed placements in Paediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynaecology at my base hospital, Coffs Harbour NSW. My obstetric and gynaecological placement, unlike my Vietnam placement, was a fantastic experience all round. I had the privilege of observing and taking part in several births, both vaginal and caesarean, assisted in surgeries, engaged with numerous new and returning mothers, women admitted for various health needs and researched and presented a literature review on the topic of pelvic prolapse as well as developed a brochure to aid in informing women of their options.

My Paediatric term was similarly full of experiences wherein I was able to engage with both children and young people and their families, tending to their health needs within the hospital. I was fortunate to have seen numerous mothers being air-lifted to larger hospitals to give birth to children pre-term and have observed them upon their return to Coffs Harbour.

Finally, I will be on my final two (2) month rotation, split between the Emergency department and general medicine here in Coffs Harbour. It is sincerely hoped that I will again be afforded opportunities to engage and learn medicine that will aid me in my ‘pre-internship’ program beginning between October – November this year and ultimately in 2025 when commencing my Internship in Coffs Harbour.