I am Myles McKenzie, a proud Barundji Aboriginal man of the Paroo river, raised in Townsville, North Queensland. Having grown up in regional North Queensland, I became cognizant of the complex health disparities faced in Northern Australia, including the elevated prevalence of untreated mental illness within Aboriginal communities and inaccessibility to culturally sensitive health services. The implications of these health disparities became especially evident during my secondary education, where I learnt that suicide remains one of the leading causes of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, affecting Aboriginal children as young as nine years of age.

These shocking health disparities inspired my passion for mental health, determined to reduce mental illness and suicide in my community. This aspiration motivated my completion of a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) before pursuing medicine. Currently, I am completing my second year of a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery with an expected completion date of December 2028. Following my medical training, I plan to complete a psychiatric fellowship and utilise my diverse mental health skills along with my cultural background to provide culturally sensitive mental healthcare for Aboriginal communities across North Queensland.

As a young Aboriginal man, my medical aspirations were instigated following my Aboriginal initiation at the age of 13. During this time, I began to hear the stories of my community elders where I learnt of the substantial health disparities experienced within remote communities, noting a common theme among my Elders’ stories: a sense that their health had been forgotten.

This experience highlighted the crucial need for accessible and culturally sensitive healthcare on country, and I would love nothing more than the opportunity to implement this approach for my North Queensland region as an Aboriginal doctor. This desire quickly transpired into self-determination following work experience in the remote Hughenden hospital and Townsville psychiatric unit. I realised mental health was often under-appreciated in medicine, with many of my mob left suffering untreated mental illness, unable to access mental health services. This prompted my aspiration to become an Aboriginal psychiatrist in North Queensland and provide culturally sensitive mental healthcare on-country to reduce the soring prevalence of untreated mental illness in North Queensland.

Through this aspiration, I will utilise my medicine, psychology, and cultural background to adapt a holistic approach to patient care, recognising that each component, be it physical, social, environmental, cultural, or spiritual, are crucial to achieve positive patient outcomes. Most importantly, I hope to utilise my traditional Aboriginal Spirituality and medical knowlegde to provide cultural, community-based mental healthcare and finally, reduce the distressing presence of Aboriginal youth suicide.

After completing my second year of medicine, my appreciation for the dedication, resilience, and passion required to become a competent medical practitioner has substantially developed. Indeed, this past year alluded several valuable experiences, prompting both professional and personal growth as a young Aboriginal student, defining the doctor I aspire to become. Most notably, I created new support networks and learnt to effectively integrate my passion for Indigenous mental health within my studies, motivating my continued academic resilience and inspiring self-determination. Such motivations proved crucial throughout the year, enabling me to dismantle the sense of imposter syndrome that I have experienced over the past two years, finding my own identity and confidence as an Aboriginal medical student and future doctor. Establishing this identity prompted important professional growth throughout the year, as I learnt to trust my clinical judgement and embrace my own professional communication and empathic qualities, improving my clinical decisions while fostering patient-centred care. Consequently, this past year has captured the importance of embracing my cultural passion for Indigenous mental health, inspiring my ongoing self-determination and perseverance towards improving the mental health of my Indigenous community.

Additionally, this past year highlighted the positive implications of developing strong peer relationships and embracing group-based learning environments, recognising that success in medicine and healthcare requires a team effort. Subsequently, through establishing a sense of belonging in medicine, I formed new peer relationships throughout the year, prompting unique team learning experiences including weekly study groups and mock physical medical examinations with my friends. Most importantly, embracing these peer relationships and team learning opportunities provided a comprehensive learning experience that bolstered my own mental wellbeing, inspiring my high distinction grades and an academic excellence award for the year. Recognising the academic and wellbeing benefits of such team learning environments, I pursued several opportunities to mentor younger students on their own career journeys, including becoming an ambassador and tutor within my university. Such opportunities allowed me to work alongside younger Aboriginal students, supporting them to achieve their own academic and healthcare aspirations, as together, we can finally address the complex health disparities facing our mob.

Finally, the implications of the Australian Rotary Health Indigenous Health Scholarship throughout this year have been profound, enabling me to pursue a month-long placement in the remote Northern Queensland community of Cloncurry. This placement provided countless diverse learning experiences, from caring for patients experiencing mental illness, providing outreach to the homes of Aboriginal Elder’s in the community, and even performing my first medical procedures. Most significantly, this remote placement reminded me why I have always wanted to become a doctor, demonstrating how Aboriginal culture and a patient’s unique illness experience can be integrated to provide culturally-sensitive, holistic healthcare for Aboriginal patients. Subsequently, the Australian Rotary Health Indigenous Health Scholarship has allowed me to seize every valuable learning opportunity throughout my second year of medicine, supporting me to pursue my passion for remote medicine and Aboriginal mental health. I extend my deepest gratitude and appreciation to both Australian Rotary Health and my sponsoring club, the Rotary Club of Essendon, for their ongoing support in my journey towards becoming a patient-centred and culturally sensitive Aboriginal medical practitioner.