2022 will be the beginning of my post graduate education in medicine and y the start of 2026 I will be a fully qualified Doctor. Four years is a lot of time for experiences and opportunities to occur in, so, while I have ideas of where I would like to apply myself, I am still staying open to what the future may bring.

An area of significant interest to me right now though, is women’s health. As a young Minjungbal woman of Yugambeh-Bundjalung Jugun from a rural area, I have struggled to access medical expertise by doctors who are willing to investigate and uncover the causes of my ill health. As a woman, too often our worries are dismissed and too often is the main solution for any ailment to ‘just go on the pill’. Despite this I am privileged as I have the ability and time to pursue other avenues and health professionals to help me. As a doctor I want to provide personalised care that genuinely finds and treats the root cause of illness rather than just band-aid the symptoms. I believe that, regardless of who or where you are, you should be able to access high quality, culturally and physically safe medical care. It is this vision tat makes me so passionate about Indigenous women being able to access such care preceding throughout and subsequent to childbirth for both her and her baby.

Unfortunately Indigenous mothers and their babies continue to experience poorer health outcomes before and after birth, particularly if they live in rural and remote areas. The systemic change required to improve the statistics and personal experiences of our women is not easily come by. Systemic change is the result of many individuals working together and I intend to add my qualifications and voice as a young Minjungbal woman to organisations such as Birthing on Country to be an advocate fro this change. Birthing on Country requires so many people in different capacities; doctors, researchers, advocates, and Indigenous woman themselves, with people working in inter sectional roles. The aim is to facilitate the return of the birthing process to Indigenous communities enabling culturally appropriate care specific of the mother, her mob and community traditions. There is hard evidence that the fostering of traditional birthing alongside medical checks and guidance helps ‘close the gap’ in both mental and physical health statistics, allowing families to connect with and preserve their traditions.

I know that wherever I end up as a health professional it is here that I want to make a change. Here being in the individual lives of those around me, and here being in the building blocks for tomorrow.

This semester was my final doing the Doctor of Medicine. The only unit I did this semester was my Medical unit. It was the final stage of my degree as I had completed my Service Learning unit sets. In the medical unit I rotated through several different areas; Oncology and Palliative Care, Dermatology, Neurology, Ears Nose and Throat and Trauma Surgery.   And now I am done! I am so excited to be finished my study chapter! Yet also a little bit sad and a lotta bit nervous. My next chapter is as an internship as a junior doctor at Broome Hospital.

My personal goal this semester was to uphold my marks and do my absolute best to finish the year with a high mark so that I could try to graduate with distinction. I am so very proud to say that I graduated with Distinction this year, of which only about 20 students in our cohort of over 230 did!

Coming in as the young girl who failed some of her first year exams, who did not know how to study and who struggled so hard with the hours and hours of lecture, I am so proud to finish up with this honour. I think that studying with my mob, doing Rural clinical school and getting that 1:1 hands on learning and just being so well supported by you made a huge difference. Not just in skill but in my confidence. Because confidence helped me ask questions when I was confused, it made me put my hand up to have a go and it made it possible for me to state that I do not know and feel okay in that. I think this is really what helped me take my learning to the next level. Accepting that reading wasn’t the way for me to study and getting the right people around me to practice practice practice and learn in other ways was the other part. All the beautiful people I met in Broome really helped me realise this pathway and your ongoing, unwavering support allowed me to stick it through.

It made a huge difference to my studies to have the support of Australian Rotary Health and my sponsors.    I would love one day to be able to donate back in to help students coming through like I did. I went from barely passing to finishing with distinction and part of that was being able to step back from work with the financial support of you guys behind me, knowing that I could just spend this last year focusing on passing my exams and getting through rather than working full time alongside it.

One of the challenges this semester is that I have really struggled with motivation since the start of the year and have continued to do so all year. I think knowing that it’s the last year makes it both better and worse. It’s only a short time left but the full-time placement and lack of formal teaching make it feel more like an unpaid job and less like a degree/learning.

I have also found it tricky coming back to the city. I loved the small team and supportive environment of Broome. I loved giving back to the communities around and being able to take the time to really support and get to know a person. I felt like the hospital and team culture was that of really trying to support a person with what they needed at that point of time and going the extra mile. Large metro hospitals, I feel, are too large and busy to focus on patients as individuals so much.

Right now I am just trying to choose my battles, aiming to protect patients and protect my sanity. I often try to bridge the gap where I can, sitting, yarning and doing a quiet bit to help patients and trying to advocate for their best care, not the most convenient care. I know this is something I need to work on but I am so grateful to be returning to Broome next year where I can be a learner junior doctor without having to fight as many of these battles.

I was involved in some really cool stuff this year outside of university. I went to Australian Indigenous Doctors Association Conference and spoke in the huge halls on the projects I have been involved with.

Goolarri Media Community Health Promotion Video is the first project. That’s the video we made with Goolarri Media’s help. We collaborated with Kimberley mob to co design a video that educated on a topic that community believe needs more visibility  and information. The wonderful Mary G became the star of our project and we unveiled it at AIDA! Hopefully to be seen soon on an NITV screen near you:)

My other project was the Strengthening Aboriginal Family Involvement in the ESCALATION System – Aboriginal Family Experience program. We talked to carers of bubs in the hospital wards about their experience in hospital, asking whether they feel heard and if they feel safe to speak up. We identified several factors that strengthen our mobs voice and areas that need to be worked on across three different WA hospitals. This research has resulted in an education unit and sims for staff and a book and animation for carers of bubs to help them in community before they come to hospital. I really loved this project because my job was truly to listen, and understand mobs experiences so that we can make a positive impact.

Talking at this event was a major milestone for myself. These are two projects close to my heart and to get up and share them on a national stage was nothing short thrilling.

From here I start a job as an intern at Broome Hospital. I am excited, I was one of the lucky 5 to be chosen – it was a very popular spot this year! It was always my dream to come back up to the Kimberley and practice medicine. Not only is it a place where I can give back to community and help, but it is such a supportive and special place.

Thankyou for everything you have done for me. You have been an integral part of my support system in this journey and I do not think I would have made it here without you by my side.