Past Indigenous Health Scholarships Program

My name is Nathan Cash, I am a final year MD student at the University of Western Australia.   I was born and raised in country NSW before moving to Queensland with my family during my primary school years.   I did not always know I wanted to study medicine, but I always knew I wanted to one day return and work in rural Australia.   My heritage is that of Ngarigo Nation which spans throughout the alpine region of NSW/Victoria.   As a child I took many trips to Kunama Namadji (Snowy Mountains), at which time I developed a deep love for this region of Australia.

My name is Maiysha Craig, I am a proud Gumbayggirr and Yaegi woman, and I am in  my final year of  the Doctor of Medicine program at University of Sydney.   I am currently studying full time and also working casual weekends and night shifts as a midwife, so I believe this scholarship would help me immensely to be able to focus primarily on my studies to be able to graduate.

Studying a bachelor of Oral health is something in which I have always wanted to undertake. This line of study will see me being able to work a hands-on job which will allow me to interact with a diverse range of patients. I feel that when I graduate this course it will provide me with the satisfaction that I have made the right decision in my path of study.

When I graduate I have always intended on using this qualification t o help work towards improving dental health in remote regional communities.

My passion to become a midwife came from the early age of 13. I was fascinated in all things pregnancy and birth, and growing up as a Nurrunga woman in a big Indigenous family, it was safe to say that there was always at least one or two pregnant woman in our family. This was always something of excitement for me and luckily as we were such a close-knit family I was able to have the opportunity to support and walk alongside the pregnant women in my family. From start to finish I was absolutely mesmerised with pregnancy and that’s when I decided that I wanted to be a midwife. I was completely in love with the human body and how resilient it can be during pregnancy.

Not only was I interested in the clinical side of being a midwife, my Aboriginal culture allowed me to be open to the spiritual and holistic side of birthing for an Aboriginal mother and family, it was incredible to see how strong women can really be and how unique each woman’s pregnancy and birth can be.

As a qualified medical practitioner or health worker, my aim is to provide support in a safe and quality and culturally safe environment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. I want to contribute to improving not only the physical and mental health or community members but care holistically for them. By working alongside other healthcare professionals, I could be an advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders for their health, I hope to improve indigenous health by educating community members and leading by example supporting them throughout the choices they make.

As a qualified medical practitioner and/or health worker working within Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities, it is important in closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.

I have been accepted to study the post graduate diploma in Critical Care Nursing which has been a career goal since I started nursing.    This course will assist my current clinical skills from working in the Intensive Care Unit and I hope to someday work towards retrieval nursing.

I grew up in regional Western Australia, which was challenging in terms of access to adequate healthcare facilities.    General practitioners were booked out weeks in advance, there were minimal locum specialist clinics and no adequate surgical facilities.

I have chosen to dedicate my professional career and consequently a large portion of my life to improving health outcomes for the people of my community.   Thus far, I have completed a Bachelor of Nursing and a Graduate Certificate in Critical Care Nursing with Distinction.  Prior to commencing the Doctor of Dental Medicine program with the University of Western Australia, I worked in a large public intensive care unit, nursing a variety of critically unwell patients.   My collective experiences as a student and nurse have cultivated a passion for the fundamentals of basic healthcare, which strangely enough led to my interest in dentistry.

I have dreamed of being a doctor ever since I was a young boy and there has never been any other path I envisioned for my life.    My inspiration/motivation driving me to pursue my dream is a particular group of which I am  a member – Indigenous Australian males.   I am acutely aware of the many issues that continue to plague Indigenous males in Australia today.

As a future Aboriginal dental practitioner, my overall aim is to dedicate my time into eradicating the oral-health inequity within the remote Aboriginal communities.  The disturbing reality is that despite living in a developed world, our communities are often neglected when it comes to simplest of resources.   Knowing my people have poor oral health due to lack of preventable dental care has fueled my drive to becoming a dentist.   As an aspiring future health professional, I believe that treatment and prevention is the way to close the gap.  The poor oral health related quality of life can be optimised by simply implementing oral health education as well as providing good quality dietary advise.