My name is Shi-Anne Wallace, I am the second eldest of four children and grew up in the Tablelands community of Atherton in Far North Queensland. I am of Aboriginal, Mamu descent via my father.

Being the first in my family to finish High School, I graduated in 2021. I then began studying the Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) degree at James Cook University – Cairn’s campus at the beginning of 2022. I am now in my third year of my degree and expect to graduate at the end of 2025.

I had the opportunity to attend conferences across Australia including the Indigenous Allied Health Association (IAHA) 2022 & 2023 Conferences. I was also invited to participate in the 2023 IAHA Ultimate Student Leadership Challenge. This involved a complex case study where I learnt more about Indigenous health and the multidisciplinary, individualised, and cultural approach required to provide best practice to our mob. On top of university commitments, I am a James Cook University Ambassador, I work in our future students and marketing team, our outreach team and for our Indigenous Education and Research Centre.

My beliefs, values and experiences position me to make a substantial difference to Indigenous health now, and for future generations as a qualified health professional.

My grandmother is my role model and inspiration. She has demonstrated great strength to overcome challenges she has faced. She has been a major contributor to my growth and assisted in building me into a confident, strong, and independent young woman. I am focused with a strong vision for my future; to improve statistics for Indigenous Australians health outcomes.

I know that studying Pharmacy at James Cook University (JCU) will continue to teach me all the necessary skills I need to make a difference to Indigenous communities. The experiences from my grandparents’ past have helped shape my future, guiding me to make a difference for all our mob.

My involvement with organisations around Australia and participation in events has helped me gain confidence and knowledge about Indigenous health and the multidisciplinary, individualised and cultural approach required to provide best practice to our mob.    Being an ambassador at JCU has opened many doors and opportunities that have allowed me to connect with younger students, helping to inspire and motivate them to attend tertiary education. This has contributed to my professional practice, making me a better health care professional for our families.

It’s through my beliefs, values and experiences that I will not only be a trusted health professional, but I will be a trusted Indigenous woman. I will be a trained health professional, with a high level of understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, this will give me the opportunity to build deeper relationships with all members of the community. This will support me to contribute to improving Indigenous health by encouraging our mob to access healthcare and increase compliance to modern therapies and medicines.

This past semester has been somewhat of a rollercoaster, it has had its ups and downs. Many of those ups would not have been possible without the support from Rotary Health. The support from your organisation has allowed me to step back from casual work and better focus on my degree, studies and extra curriculum activities. Throughout the semester I performed very well in many of my written assignments, been able to attend several conferences around Australia and expand my networks. I am extremely grateful for the support this scholarship and organisation has given. Despite all this support, I struggled towards the end of semester and into exams due to unforeseen personal circumstances, this is evident in my final exams pulling my grades back down to passing rate.

Throughout the semester I was able to dedicate more time to study but also to attending multiple conferences, events and outreach work. By attending these my passion has grown, I was able to network with professionals Australia wide and share my knowledge and experiences with younger students in particular within Indigenous communities of Far North Queensland. I feel like with your support I was able to build on my own knowledge, my networks and hopefully the future of the health workforce, which I will continue to do into semester 2 and into the future.

It is with a full heart that I thank you for your ongoing support. I look forward to connecting with you again towards the end of the year with new positive experiences and hopefully better outcomes within my study.