Indigenous Health Scholarship Program

The global pandemic underlined to me the important role that health practitioners and researchers play in promoting positive health outcomes.   This renewed interest within the health field of health, as well as my strong desire as an Aboriginal woman to help ‘Close the Gap’ inspired me to begin my studies in the Doctor of Medicine program.

Throughout the time I took to decide that I wanted to be a midwife my culture and background has always contributed to my decision making. Within the area I live in I know there is not may Indigenous midwives available for mums or babies that identify has Indigenous so I knew that doing this would not only benefit myself but my community. I want to be able to provide a safe space for Indigenous mums to voice their concerns or anything they wish to without being judged.

I have aspirations to improve Aboriginal health as an active contributor, specifically to work together with Aboriginal communities and to facilitate ways of working with existing and creating new partnerships. I aim to be instrumental in developing community specific models that incorporate the joint healing process of the particular community, through inclusivity of the community and key stakeholders. I plan to incorporate the Social Determinate of Aboriginal Health and work within the framework of the Bio psycho-social medical model.

Contributing to improving Indigenous health when I become a medical practitioner is a crucial part of what becoming a doctor means to me. To be able to the Australian Indigenous people is something that I strive to do as I believe there is a great divide in our society between the health issues of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

I have set my goal to work in remote and rural Aboriginal communities in WA to help improve and implement health strategies. This includes primary health care and prevention of chronic health disease, by using education to empower and facilitate good health attitudes. One of the communities that I am keen to work in is Lombardina near Broome, which I have family connections. My motivation to complete the bachelor degree in nursing so that I can assist Aboriginal women to stay on country during the birth process and be there to support the women during this. Therefore helping them with their spiritual and cultural journey and keeping iwht their health belief model and their connection to country. As the first person in my family and extended family to go to university and the first Bindjareb women to enrol in the nursing degree I hope to inspire and motivate many other young Nyungar women to follow my lead so that they can excel and be stronger person within their communities and families.

On commencement of my Bachelor of Nursing I was awarded the SA Health Aboriginal Health Scholarship in partnership with Australian Rotary Health.    This scholarship supported me financially, but through Rotary it also provided me with a support network that I would not have had moving from rural South Australia to Adelaide.   On completing my Bachelor of Nursing, I moved back to Port Lincoln to be closer to family but also contribute to the healthcare of the Indigenous community.

Through my work in 2019 as a research officer with UWA working on two Aboriginal health projects related to ageing and the brain, I met many Elders from the Perth Indigenous community who have expressed the need for more Indigenous doctors with more cultural understanding/sensitivity. Many doctors from non-Indigenous backgrounds sometimes lack the knowledge of how an Indigenous family and lifestyle is structured, and do not quite understand the values and needs of an Aboriginal person or community. I would like to contribute to the community by providing safe and supportive care that is culturally appropriate and understanding, whilst also educating other health professionals on how they can be most appropriate as well.

Indigenous health has always been something I have been incredibly passionate about. Growing up in Broome, a rural community in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, I have long been witness to the ongoing disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous health and well being outcomes.

As a young Indigenous male training to become a medical doctor I would like to see the health gap between the indigenous and non-Indigenous population closed within my lifetime. It is a huge injustice within our society that being born Indigenous reduces both physical and mental health outcomes. One of my main goals as a health practitioner will be to improve these outcomes and reduce disease burden within the Indigenous population. The health gap is a multifactorial and complex problem and achieving closure of the gap will require a multifactorial solution that I personally do not have all the answers for. Through my studies in medical school, research and through indigenous patients I aim to improve my understanding and work towards providing equitable health care for Indigenous Australians.

One of the main areas I would aim to improve the health of Indigenous Australians would be in maternal and newborn health. This area I believe has some of the biggest discrepancies between Indigenous and non-indigenous health despite having some very preventable health conditions which could greatly improve the lives of many Indigenous women and their children. My interest for maternal and newborn health was solidified when I was able to be in the room with my sister-in-law when she gave birth to my niece. During this experience I saw need for good health care professionals to be present and how they can stop things from going south quickly and therefore I understood how fortunate my niece was to be born in the city, but this just highlighted that there is many indigenous women who do not have access to the same care and support because they aren’t in the city.