Byron Davis
Indigenous Health Scholarship
Flinders University, Darwin NT
Doctor of Medicine
Scholarship Awarded 2018 – 2021
Sponsored by:
Rotary Clubs of Darwin
How will I contribute to improving Indigenous health as a qualified medical practitioner or health worker?
I currently already have a great deal of passion working with Indigenous people. The passion stems from seeing the issues my family have had to endure with their physical, emotional and spiritual health. I also have firsthand experience of the problems facing Indigenous people in the top end, as I work as an Aboriginal Heath Practitioner in the front-line of the clinic addressing the very personal issues with patients that I encounter. I have developed a very strong bond with many community members in the Darwin area and I wish to carry this service on into medicine where I can better promote the need for Indigenous health as a Doctor. This is a n area that is very close to me and I have always tried to find ways to make sure I am engaging in ways to learn from Indigenous people in the community to find better ways where I can know how I can better help the issues that they face.
Whilst working in the Aboriginal Medical Centre I have been exposed to a wide array of health problems that I believe need to be fixed in by Indigenous role models within the specific community. After encountering many of the very personal issues I have seen within the clinic I believe I will be able to show the diligence, good will and passion to make change in the future. With very few Indigenous Doctors in Australian and with even less Indigenous doctors in NT I believe it is time to bring about solutions to the next generations problems.
I truly believe being a Doctor is what I have always wanted to be and now having been accepted into medicine it is a dream come true.
Current Progressive Report
This is my final year of medical school and it has been very different for myself then the previous 3 years of medical school. I believe I have built my confidence tremendously. I still understand I have a lot to still learn depending on the field I go into but it has almost come to a surprise how much I have actually learnt in my time in medical school. And how I can actually see the tangible progress I have made.
I am currently on my 2nd placement of 4th year. My first placement was on an Obstetrics and gynecology rotation. It was a very different placement compared to anywhere I have been in the hospital. I got to see a lot of special moments between people when they had their births and learnt a lot about the process leading up to such a special moment for people. I got to learn a lot about patients’ mindsets towards children, babies and their reproductive health and saw a variety of other issues also.
Im currently half way into my emergency placement and enjoy the number of procedural things I am able to do. I have got to see a lot of different problems in such a small amount of time. And have learnt to deal with the pressure environment of the emergency room. I think I have getting slowly more confident in that atmosphere as the Doctor’s in that department are very supportive even with the workload they have.
Regardless of the covid -virus I had a tough year last year with medical school. I believe 3rd year medical school was my biggest learning curve in the time frame. It had the most real-life application and understanding and less ‘book knowledge’. This required a more nuanced understanding of diseases with real world application in trying to understand how they affect the patient’s I would see. I could start to understand how all of the pre-clinical knowledge, I had learnt in the 1st 2 years of med really impacted my years now. Also, how the habits I built now accumulated to such a practical effect this year. I think I am definitely aiming at the potential now knowing I am a Doctor at the end of the year and it’s been a long journey here.
Going forward I am not 100% sure on the specialty I will go forward in as I still have 5 more placements this year before graduating. I hope to learn a lot about the different areas and build up my increasing confidence in medicine to better be suited to help the patient’s I see in the future.