Past Research

My motivation for wanting to become a Doctor is a dynamic and constantly evolving one.   It began growing up in the country with  poor access to female practitioners.   When I visited Denmark (the country) on Rotary Youth Exchange I saw the incredible health care system and developed a passion for health. Later when I commenced studying at the University of Western Australia (UWA), I learned how to intellectualise and articulate the disparities I experienced and witnessed, most notably access to education, living in isolation, housing instability and racism.   At UWA, I knew and met Aboriginal medical students who inspired and encouraged me to believe that I too could be a Doctor.   I could be someone who could make a difference.   Since enrolling in the University of Notre Dame MD program, I am presently 1 of 2 Aboriginal students in a class of 110.

My name is Rhiannon Coppin and I am an Aboriginal woman from the Northern Territory.   My family extends from Grove Hill to Alice Springs and originates from three Aboriginal tribes (Woolwonga, Kaytej and Arrente).   My family were victims of the Stolen Generation and unfortunately, as a result we have lost our culture, language and spiritual connection to country.   Therefore, my goal as a midwife is t assist Indigenous women to access culturally safe care and the ability to birth on country, allow them to form a spiritual connection to their land and community.

The 2016 Census shows that the Northern Territory has the highest proportion of Indigenous people in Australia and a large proportion of this population is from a rural and remote location.

I am a proud Palawan Aboriginal woman from Lutruwita.   I am in my third year of physiotherapy, commencing my final year.   Physiotherapy has always been an interest of mine as I want to give back to my community and increase the health and quality of life of all Indigenous people.   I have been fortunate for the opportunity to become enriched with knowledge and I want to share this among my people.

Throughout my degree, I have had many opportunities to connect with my culture and speak on behalf of Aboriginal people and I want to continue to do so after I have graduated.   I have been a mentor for Indigenous students studying a career in allied health and I have sat on the Aboriginal Student Committee Board speaking on behalf of my peers.

As I work through this degree my main aim is to work within a relevant professional stream to assist and support Indigenous women men and children as well a young people who are entering into adulthood and more importantly their mental health.    Indigenous health statistic are rapidly changing.   I would contribute to improving the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (A&TSI) people as a qualified health worker practitioner by improving and providing a reflective and on-going practice and commitment to strengthening individual leadership.    The aim would be to grow an awareness of the knowledge of A&TSI peoples and continue to build better lives from Indigenous people – as individuals, families and community.

For a long time, I have grappled with the question, when I first started my degree of Bachelor of Pharmacy, I only thought that our main goal was handing out medicines.   However, since undertaking this course I have opened my eyes to the many possibilities this career has, and how these can be undertaken by me to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The first role of a pharmacist is to be a medication expert, we are meant to know how medicines work, when and how to take them, what to expect when taking them and any adverse events that could come about whilst taking this medicine.

I am Lloyd Diggins, a Wongi Aboriginal man who grew up on Whadjuk and Wardandi Noongar countries where I am accepted.   I am an active member of my communities.  I am currently placed in Kununurra as part of the Rural Clinical School of WA.   I have progressed through the first two years of the Doctor of Medicine course and am currently completing the courses’ third year.

After high school I studied physiotherapy which allows to work in hospitals in Western Australia. I had not anticipated that in my physiotherapy career I would get the opportunity to work with many Aboriginal patients, but due to being so over represented in healthcare systems I had great experiences treating my own people.

I grew up in Alice Springs and in the APY Lands, where I was exposed to various social and health issues amongst my community.   My passion for becoming a nurse extends from my experience and love that I previously had when growing up.    Further, I had the desire to work in youth detention in the area of prevention and rehabilitation.   However, based on the experience I gained through working in this area, it was not where I saw my full potential and my ability to help my community effectively.   I believe that many aspects of prevention and rehabilitation of youth detention stem from their ability to live a healthy lifestyle – mental, physically and spiritually.

My name is Gary Wallace and I am a descendant from the Iman Nation mob within Queensland (Taroom, Dalby area).   My desire to be a doctor commenced just before my mother passed away from multiple strokes when I was 15 years of age.   After leaving Slade College boarding school in Warwick I pursued Rugby League within Australia and England.   My life then took me on one big journey back to my original desire to study medicine.   Over the years I have practiced as a lawyer, coached professional, lectured etc, but my heart and mind has always focused on finding out various medical answers in order to help my mob.    Our mob’s statistics are very poor when concerning health issues in relation life expectancy.

As a Doctor and Lawyer I will do whatever I can on a political and medical level to improve the health and life expectancy of our mob compared to non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

I am a Kokatha Aboriginal man born in Port Lincoln.   I lived in Ceduna on the far west coast of South Australia, up until the age of four on our Aboriginal Community Homeland, Dinah Line.    I lived there with my mum, nana and some extended family.    My mum began studying at the university of Adelaide when I was almost five years old and I have been on Kaurna country since.

I am aware and understand that Indigenous people have an increased risk of many health conditions.  I believe that it is extremely important that there are more Indigenous health professionals within the field to aid in Closing the gap.

I am from Ashford, a small remote community in North West NSW with a high Indigenous population, where access to medical staff and resources where always very limited.   The closest hospital is in the neighbouring town of Inverell 57 klms away.   Growing up I always saw and experienced the struggle of the lack of medical staff and resources and was determined to better health outcomes for Indigenous people.

Now, in the third year of my nursing degree, I am thinking of potential career paths I could take.  My passion is improving health outcomes within Indigenous communities and aiming to close the health inequality gap.