I grew up around the Karrajarri people of Bidgydanga community where I had witnessed many of my close families diagnosed with chronic health conditions simply because of the lack of health access and education we have within our community.

I constantly reflect upon the health of my people, which greatly disappointed me to think that my people as purely disadvantaged in this community.   I have witnessed the upsetting truth between the health gap of my people, where many young, close relationships are affected.

I know I will become a Kaldadoon, Waanji and East Arrenernte doctor that my people have been needing.   My purpose to becoming a doctor is what my ancestors had fought for.   The had fought for the opportunities for me to become a leader in this world.  I am driven to learn as much as I can from western medicine, to know one day I can break down the barriers for my people.

When I am a doctor I would like to be the professional with whom my people enjoy consulting.   I want to listen to what people need, teach and empower them to take ownership of their health.   I believe that education is a fundamental asset in empowering myself and my community to better health outcomes.   After 9 years at boarding school in the city, I am forever grateful for the opportunity to be educated in hopes to make future changes for my people and his country.

The most rewarding part of this semester was being able to complete my first semester of prac as a part of the Broome Rural Clinical School (RCS) cohort. Being
in Broome for my penultimate year, has allowed me to learn the practical skills of becoming a junior doctor. This semester, I had really been able to be a part of the team, which has been a great learning experience. My favourite rotation this semester has been ED, as I had felt that this rotation allowed me to get the most out of my skills and seeing acute presentations.

My goals of the semester were being able to get the most of my RCS year, while enjoying my hobbies in Broome. I believe I got the most out of this semester as I
would often stay behind prac to learn specific skills and see different pathologies. I hope to continue this in my next semester. This semester, I was able to balance myself with my studies. While being home, this has allowed me to connect with my old people and connect with my roots, enjoying camping and hunting.

With my studies, I feel like I went well – being able to complete the RCS curriculum and attempting to catch up with the Curtin curriculum was difficult, but was
manageable. This semester I hope to smash out the RCS assessments so I can focus on the Curtin exams at the end of the year.

As a part of being on RCS, the biggest challenges have been trying to complete the Curtin medical school curriculum and the UWA RCS curriculum. For only Curtin students, we have to pass the RCS assessments, but the Curtin exams are the assessments that will allow us to pass the year. So, this has been the major challenge of completing two curriculums in a year. I had coped through this challenge by allowing time every Friday morning to complete Curtin content. I want to spend my final year in the Kimberley because studying in Broome has allowed me to learn within my community, where I feel culturally safe. This environment has significantly boosted my mental and spiritual health, which has supported my studies this year. Learning in the Kimberley has provided a balance that I have found challenging to achieve when living in Perth. Here, I am more motivated to learn medicine, driven by a greater purpose to serve my people who are unwell. Completing my studies in Broome will enable me to help break down barriers for my community.

My family has been incredibly supportive of my commitment to my studies this year, even offering to help reduce my physical and financial workload so I
can focus more on my education. In my final year, I am confident that my family’s support as well as my independent drive to learn will continue to be
invaluable in helping me complete my degree. Additionally, I believe that spending my final year in the Kimberley will further enhance my skills in medical practice specific to this region, where I plan to work as both a junior and senior doctor.