Indigenous Health Scholarship Program

While I am not studying in the physical health field, I am studying in the emotional health, mental health and social health field as a social worker.   Once I have finished my degree I want to be able to build therapeutic relationships with my people. I want to be able to advocate and stand n the void for all Indigenous people and families that feel they are not being heard.

Throughout my past two years of university, I have participated in tutoring Indigenous youth through the Graham Polly Farmer Foundation.    This has kept me connected to helping my community and has taught me a lot about myself.   When I first left for university I had ambitions to pursue a career in physiotherapy and return to Broome to assist in sporting programs for Indigenous youth.

I am a proud Gundijumurra person who has many dreams and aspirations that I want to fulfil.   My background has taught me the importance of self determination, the ability to dream big and that work and commitment will pave the way to opportunities and happiness. I feel proud to be a positive role model to my peers and I am the only Indigenous student at my school to complete Year 12 in 2021.   I have a strong connection to community, which ahs mainly been taught to me by my father who works with Indigenous children in the local area of Echuca.

As a medical student I am very passionate about Indigenous Health and working towards improving the future of health care delivery among the Indigenous population. I am a keen student with a passion of learning. For as long as I can remember I have been eager to understand the complexities of the human body and be involved in improving the delivery of health care. I am empathetic at heart and have a strong desire to be able to serve the wider community and peoples of all backgrounds by providing the best possible health care outcomes.

For as long as I can remember I have always been passionate about helping others, instilling positive change and guiding people to pursuing a healthier lifestyle. Thankfully, the opportunity ACU has given me to pursue my lifelong career goal builds the foundation for me to achieve these changes I have always wanted to in life by becoming a physiotherapist.

For the last few years of school, I knew that I wanted to work in the health industry, but I never quite knew where I would fit in and best be able to make a difference. Fresh out of high school I chose to study Physiotherapy. A few months into the course I was unsure of my decision, but after completing one year of study I decided to take a break and find out what I really wanted to do. To be 100% honest I thought I would never return to study physiotherapy.

When I become a doctor, I want to be involved in the implementation of programs that will aide my community. Health in Aboriginal culture is complex and is defined by a range of cultural, historical and societal issues, with many barriers in place that do not allow Indigenous populations to access culturally safe and effective care. I believe that having Indigenous health practitioners aiding to create that culturally safe environment will benefit the wider community in living and thriving; not in their past, but in their present and future, and I hope to one day help create the future.

My name is Isobella Kruger and I am second year medical student at Monash University. I have chosen to study a Bachelor of Medical Science/Doctor of Medicine because I am extremely passionate about helping people, inciting social change and diminishing injustices in the world today. As a proud Kobumerri and Ngugi woman from the Gold Coast (Yugambeh language) region, I have grown up on country and seen first-hand the damaging health implications on individuals in Indigenous communities of trans-generational trauma and cyclic abuse. Consequently, I have come to discover about myself, that I am a very empathetic person who has always had a desire t improve the situation of mental and physical health discrepancies for Indigenous people in Australia.

As a young child I move frequently throughout Victoria with my mother and younger brother, I never quite finished a full year of study during my primary school years and got my first job as a checkout operator in a chin supermarket, I never really focused on higher education as most of my family seem to ‘get by’ without it. I helped provide for my family and assist my mother raise my younger brother with this learning needs until I moved back to Victoria.

I am a full time Bachelor of Nursing student through the Deakin University, Institute of Koorie Education and I strongly believe that this scholarship will greatly enhance my experience and allow me to achieve my goals in the strongest way possible.