I am a proud Whadjuk Noongar and Yindjibarndi woman and am currently in my 2nd yearof Medical School at Monash university. Outside of my studies I am a part of an initiative to help increase university attendance for students from underrepresented backgrounds.  As well I try to involve pilates, yoga and pottery into my weekly schedule if time allowing.

My role model, my grandmother, Roni Ellis, was a strong Indigenous woman who proudly advocated for Indigenous communities across Australia and representation of our culture on a global scale. However, her remarkable work was unfortunately cut short due to falling ill, due to cancer and ultimately succumbing to her illness. Her passing was devastating for my family, but also for the many Indigenous communities she represented and the vital work she did to improve our people’s outcomes. For this reason, I have chosen to pursue a career in the medical field and aspire to help close the gap and make our
Indigenous communities feel more supported in their health journey and see better health outcomes.

My vision is to provide free healthcare to my community to all mob, in a setting that is culturally safe, sensitive, and empowering. I aim to create a space where
community members feel valued, and where healthcare is delivered with an understanding of the individual cultural and social needs of Indigenous peoples. In my
practice I want to integrate Western medicine with our traditional cultural health practices, creating a holistic approach that respects and honours Indigenous knowledge, values, and healing methods, and through this offer more comprehensive, unique, and culturally appropriate care. Additionally, I want to place a heavy focus on health education to improve health literacy and grow awareness about preventative health initiatives and the importance of early intervention.

I am currently in my second semester of my second year of Bachelor of Medical Science and Doctor of Medicine and am finishing my last semester of preclinical, learning at clayton campus. Semester 1 came with some challenges, however I am proud of my results and excited to start semester 2. Through the semester I had to visit sick relatives and also experienced some health issues which interrupted my studies slightly and at times did make me feel like I was behind compared to my peers. Despite this I used the resources around me, from the faculty staff, tutoring services and my support network as well as this scholarship to get myself and my studies back on track. Throughout the semester one of my key priorities was to ensure that I was on top of my lectures and week to week content and I felt this was effective in making me feel more confident when it came to exam time.

This past semester it was a great assistance and relief to be able to spend all my time fully focused on my studies without any added pressure of working. Compared to last year I was able to focus all of my efforts into my study as well as looking after myself to ensure that come exams I was in the best mental space I could be, and this is thanks to this scholarship. Overall, I was very happy and proud of my exam results this semester, despite having challenging parts of the semester I felt that I was able to overcome this and produce results that reflected the hard work I put into the semester. This coming semester I hope to continue to improve my studying habits and continue to produce exam results that I am proud of.

In the last semester, outside of my studies, I have had the opportunity to participate in the Monash Indigenous Leadership program which involved a masterclass, volunteering and a cultural exchange in Canada with UBC. This was an amazing opportunity to learn more about the First Nations Culture in Canada but also to gain a different perspective on how Indigenous people in the world approach bring their culture in their careers, which is defiantly something that I would like to bring into my future practice.

I also have the opportunity to be a Mentor Leader for Access Monash which is a volunteering program at the university where I mentor two students from underrepresented backgrounds, increasing their engagement with university, helping them navigate the opportunities within tertiary education and easing any worries of barriers that they might face at university whilst studying. Additionally, this year I have joined Team Med Nepal, which is an extra circular organised and run by students in the aim of promoting, fundraising and giving valuable health to remote communities in Nepal. As a part of this program, I have been apart of creating educational materials for the Nepalese locals and this experience has really furthered my passion for global and community work.