As a qualified medical practitioner and eventually an ophthalmologist, I will be committed to improving Indigenous health and addressing the significant health disparities that exist within Indigenous communities. One of the ways that I plan to contribute to this goal is by becoming an ophthalmologist and using my skills to address the high rates of eye disease that are prevalent in Indigenous populations.

I am particularly interested in researching genetic eye diseases, which disproportionately affect Indigenous communities. By gaining a deeper understanding of the genetic and environmental factors that contribute to these diseases, I hope to be able to treat and help prevent disease.

More specifically, I plan to take my skills to Aboriginal communities in Alice Springs, where I will work closely with Indigenous health workers and community leaders to provide culturally sensitive and appropriate care to Indigenous patients. I am from Alice Springs and it is a place close to my heart I have seen with my own two eyes the health disparity in rural Aboriginal communities. Even though my family ties are from far north Queensland and Thursday Island, the Aboriginal communities I grew up around were in Alice Springs. That is why I want to return one day with ophthalmic skills and gene therapy knowledge to help reduce the disparity of healthcare between those communities and the rest of Australia.

Furthermore, growing up I would watch Fred Hollows foundation ads on tv and would think how amazing it was that he could give sight back to people. Hollows worked tirelessly to improve the eye health of Indigenous Australians and I wish to follow his footsteps.

Overall, my goal as a qualified medical practitioner or health worker will be to use my skills and knowledge to improve the health of Indigenous people, particularly in the area of eye health mainly in Alice Springs. By working closely with Indigenous communities and focusing on culturally appropriate and sensitive care, I believe that I can make a meaningful difference in the lives of many, and in the same stroke, fulfil my career goal.

Year 3 semester 2 review:

The focus of study for this semester was “Primary care and clinical specialities”. This was focused around my General Practice placement and other community placements. The learning was focused around obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics and primary care.    During my GP placement, I spent time with a few different doctors. All of them were incredibly helpful, insightful and they were open to teaching me. I had ample opportunity to take patient histories, do examinations and talk about what could be going wrong and give my recommendations to the doctors afterwards. It made me feel very empowered and it helped to put my knowledge to action. I went in not really interested in doing GP work, and came out being open to it. I like the continuity of the patient care and rapport you can build over time to help the patient more. I would love to work in the primary care setting at some stage in my career in the Torres Strait Islands where my family is from, so having this chance to actually experience primary care was enriching for me. It was also rural, so seeing how that operates was interesting. Closing wounds was something iI was able to do while I was there. I also got to give roughly 60 Shingles vaccines while I was there too.

The semester essentially revolved around this placement. We learned about many metabolic disorders, mental health disorders, antenatal and postnatal care, paediatric red flags etc. The assignment was a long diabetes focused assignment. It was a completely thorough diabetes history, management plan and presentation for a patient we met on placement. This was good because diabetes, and in particular, poorly-managed diabetes is something that affects my people majorly. I heard first hand the problems people are facing on the Islands around poor diabetes control on the primary care level leading to increased hospitalisations and need for dialysis, putting a massive strain on the healthcare system.

My placement feedback was outstanding. My exam results were better than I expected. looking back I was very happy with my actual experiences and happy with the on-paper results I achieved as well.