I am interested in studying medicine because I believe this career to be my true calling in life. With my passion for the health and fitness industry and my undergraduate degree in chiropractic science I believe I have a solid foundation on studying medicine at Notre Dame.

As my background is in personal training & nutrition and my current studies of Clinical Chiropractic’s at Murdoch university I believe in thinking about the body in a holistic sense as there is not a one size fits all approach to various health conditions, I myself have battled some health conditions which led me onto the path of research in such areas of mental health, endocrinology, pharmacology and how exercise and proper diet can work together with medicine to support prevention and sometimes recovery of conditions when used alongside with medical guidance. I believe from what I have studied and completed already such as anatomy, differential diagnosis (for OSCE’s) and biology units that this gives me a good foundation on where I can build on from and carry into my medical studies I also believe I could help close the gap on aboriginal health disadvantages with my community with proper guidance from the team at Notre Dame and with my empathetic and compassionate nature that I gained while working with disability toward these issues i would love be given the opportunity to show.

In closing It would be an honour and a privilege to be able to study at Notre Dame with the aboriginal team , it has always been a dream of mine to be able to work in medicine and also to be able to help and give back to my community.

During the last 6 months of my medical school journey it has been a rollercoaster of hard work, emotions and joy.

My journey started with not knowing how it would turn out being an Indigenous student and with my personal struggles particularly financial of how I would manage my personal responsibilities and home life with my fiancé, getting the Rotary Health Scholarship has helped out tremendously with taking a lot of the financial burden off my back by helping with paying bills and rent and also with resources needed for medical school for example I didn’t have any equipment for clinical skills classes but with my 1st scholarship I was able to buy my first stethoscope which I use multiple times per week and now even more as I am doing my general practice clinical placements this wouldn’t be possible without the scholarship that I was granted.

I also have been able to buy some textbooks that are extremely useful such as Talley and O’Connor – clinical examination and Marieb – anatomy and physiology.

Currently I am now studying for final exams which are a few months away , with the COVID situation in W.A around our mid semester examinations it cancelled one of our exams till we returned to semester 2 which was quite stressful as we didn’t feel as though we had a decent break as we still had this exam hanging over our heads once we returned, so with final exams approaching it is quite stressful as I have been trying to manage the delicate balance of burnout and optimal performance I have now committed to taking Sundays off and I have a cut off study time at 7.30pm so I can enjoy dinner and relax with my fiancé and catch up which seems to be helping a lot.

I am hoping to continue this structure into second year and I am grateful for the scholarship provided for giving me tremendous relief of the financial burdens a mature aged student has to face.