My name is Jessica Storrar and I am a proud Yuin woman of the Central Coast of New South Wales. I am currently in my sixth and final year of my Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery at James Cook University (JCU). Throughout my time at JCU I have been actively involved in advocating for my Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peers in both an academic and healthcare setting.

Notably within the university setting I have acted as both our medical student association Indigenous representative as well as our Australian Indigenous Doctors Association representative. In a healthcare setting I have attended various rural and remote placements, in communities with a prominent Indigenous population and have worked with my patients to ensure their healthcare and cultural needs have been met.

I intend to continue this advocacy role after I graduate medical school with long-term goals of becoming a Paediatric Emergency Physician and helping address the presence of biases towards Indigenous patients in this setting.

Throughout medical school, I have learnt the importance of patient advocacy especially for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients; consequently, I am committed to improving Indigenous health outcomes through acting as an advocate for Indigenous patients – particularly children – in emergency departments.

I am drawn to an Emergency Department setting as this is where I have witnessed the strongest biases and injustices towards my Indigenous peers. During my placements, I have seen how some Emergency Departments have failed their Indigenous patients to the extent where preventable health issues and unnecessary but frequent hospital admissions have occurred; often due to practitioners neglecting to understand the biopsychosocial determinants of their patient’s presentation. These experiences motivate me to ensure that I understand the social circumstances of each patient I see and work with them to improve their health outcomes and reduces the biases they face within the healthcare system.

I am passionate about paediatrics as I believe children are some of the most vulnerable individuals who require a health advocate and recognise that Indigenous children are disproportionately affected by neglect conditions. Having studied in North Queensland I have frequently seen clinicians fail to consider conditions that are unique to the Indigenous population, in turn increasing their patients’ risk of financial, social, and healthcare burdens. These injustices motivate me to encourage those who train with me to not only consider common conditions, but the patient as a whole, to ensure they optimise patient outcomes for all Australians, not just the textbook patient.