Health Jobs | Health Careers | Aboriginal Health Jobs | NSW, VIC, QLD, WA, ACT, SA, NT, Australia | Health Heroes

- Click to watch Milly Cahill's story
  “I’m in Broome, helping out kids get a better start in life.”
  
  Milly Cahill
  Child Health Nurse,
  Broome
  
  When I finished school, I worked as an Aboriginal health worker and I worked alongside some good nurses who encouraged me to go and do my nursing. So I went to uni in Brisbane and studied for three years and then I became a nurse.
  
  My name is Amelia Cahill, I'm a registered nurse and I work in the child health program at the Broome Regional Aboriginal and Medical service.
  
  The biggest problems for our kids here are problems that occur from overcrowding and the things such as ear infections, skin infections and we also have some issues with poor diet.
  
  With my job we basically make sure that our kids are growing up healthy and strong. I make sure that they are up to date with their immunisations, making sure they are getting their regular health checks, and doing the yearly Indigenous health checks.
  
  I've worked alongside a lot of families that are struggling and I like working with the kids, and I like working with the mothers to help them achieve the best health they can for their kids.
  
  If you want to work in Indigenous health you have to be passionate about it, and you have to be patient at times, and you have to be caring. We need more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health professionals because we're the ones who know the community and we know how our community works, and we know the issues that everyone faces out there.
  
  Milly's story
  
  Make it your full-time mission to care for those in need by becoming a registered nurse, a job that gives you the chance to stay in your community.
  Nurse - Registered
- Click to watch Lorena Walker's story
  “I’m giving our people something to smile about in Alice Springs.”
  
  Lorena Walker
  Dental Assistant,
  Alice Springs
  
  I finished school and I didn’t know what to do so I looked at getting a traineeship. Sixteen months later, I got my Cert 3 in Dental Assisting and I’ve been doing it ever since.
  
  My name is Lorena Walker, I’m a dental assistant and I live in Alice Springs.
  
  I help the dentist in treatments with the patients, in theatre, I go out bush on occasions with a dentist or a dental therapist. I help in sterilising, health promotions, I go out to schools to let the kids know how important it is to brush their teeth, and to have good healthy teeth and gums and to eat healthy.
  
  It’s a year of training, and a couple of times within that year they send you down to group training for a week. In that week, they give you assignments to do. At the end of the year you get your certificate 3 in dental assisting and that’s recognised all over the world. I enjoy everything about my job. Just working with people, all different types like working with kids, working with old people, going out and working with Aboriginal people as well. I think that being Aboriginal and seeing Aboriginal patients is a good thing, especially when you get people from communities who come in and are a bit shy or don’t really want to talk to anybody. Just seeing another Aboriginal person makes them feel comfortable. I love it.
  
  Lorena's story
  
  A role where you can give people something to smile about, staying in your community and learning on the job.
  Dental Assistant/Dental Nurse
- Click to watch Paul Mills's story
  “I’m helping our people wake up to a brighter future.”
  
  Paul Mills
  Doctor,
  Sunshine Coast
  
  When I was at high school, I thought I was going to play sport but my family and friends encouraged me to look at my options at university. I didn’t fully understand what becoming a doctor was, but I knew it was in helping people and dealing with people’s health problems.
  
  My name is Paul Mills, I’m a doctor training in anaesthetics on the Sunshine Coast.
  
  My job is to put people asleep so that they can have their operation. I look after them during the operation, and then I wake them up and look after them immediately after.
  
  I went to university and studied for six years and after doing two years as a junior doctor, I decided to specialise. When I was at uni, I had a lot of support from family and friends, but I also had financial support from scholarships. It helped with not only accommodation but with textbooks, laptops and resources needed to continue studying.
  
  Studying medicine was a lot of hard work but at university you make a lot of new friends and it becomes your second home. There are a lot of people in the same boat, who have similar stories and you’re able to connect with them.
  
  I think the hardest decision you’ll ever have is deciding what you want to do. Working in health is very rewarding, you can travel with it and you get to meet new people and help all types of Australians, and you can make a difference.
  
  Personally, I think every child has the right to be whatever they want to be. If you want to do it, if you want to become a doctor, the fact that I went through it and that I did it and I came from an Island in the Torres Strait – I think anyone can do it.
  
  Paul's story
  
  From family doctors to surgeons, this career pathway gives your people a brighter future and comes with support and funding while you study.
  Doctor (Medical Practitioner/GP)
- Click to watch Gemma Armit's story
  “I’m making sure our people know there’s someone looking after them.”
  
  Gemma Armit
  Paramedic Trainee,
  Palm Island
  
  I love my job, I really enjoy helping people. My family and friends are very supportive and they’re very proud of what I do.
  
  My name is Gemma Armit, I’m a paramedic trainee and I work on Palm Island.
  
  The job was advertised and I thought it would be a great career choice, so I applied and was successful. I went away for six weeks to Brisbane, initially, and I’ve come back and have been able to put into practice what I learnt.
  
  I get most of my training on the job, and it’s really good because I’m able to get paid while I learn. As a paramedic Trainee I attend a variety of cases – accidents, those with injuries and other patients who require medical assistance. We may go to a job that requires a bandage, some pain relief or in worse situations someone in cardiac arrest that may need CPR until we get them to the hospital.
  
  The work can get quite hectic, and a lot of the jobs we go to can be quite gruesome but knowing we have the tools and the knowledge to deal with them is quite rewarding.
  
  My goal within the next two years is to qualify as a paramedic and from there I look forward to working either here or in other communities.
  
  My work mates are absolutely great, and it’s a really good feeling basically just giving back to the community.
  
  If you’re interested in a career in health, I think it’s important to not let anything hold you back. Don’t let yourself down by taking yourself out of it before you even give it a go. Because you can do it.
  
  Gemma's story
  
  Enjoy on-the-job training and a respected role where the community knows you're looking out for them.
  Paramedic/Ambulance Officer
- Click to watch Christopher Webster's story
  “I’m helping our mob get strong enough to tackle anything.”
  
  Christopher Webster
  Trainee Physiotherapist,
  Sydney
  
  When I was younger one year, I was watching the cricket on the TV with my dad. One of the cricket players got injured. The physio came on the field and did some treatments for him, did some manipulations, and he was fit to play for the rest of the game.
  
  Ever since then, and all throughout primary school and high school, I’ve wanted to be a physio, and I’ve stuck with it and now I’m here at uni.
  
  My name is Christopher Webster, I’m a physiotherapist in training, and I work in Sydney.
  
  Here at the University of Sydney, there’s an Aboriginal Centre. They help out not just myself but every Indigenous student here. If we’re struggling with some material they are more than happy to organise some extra tutorials. And also with the finance side of things, they are very helpful and if we do need some assistance, they are always there to help out in any way they can.
  
  I have a scholarship currently and I also have a traineeship where I’m being paid to study at the university.
  
  I work with people who have sporting injuries up to people who are severely disabled.
  
  My family and friends in the community, they love the idea that I’m a physio and they can see that I can make a change to people’s lives. Recently in my last placement, I was working with a child who was five years old. He used to be able to walk when he was three or four but as he got older, he developed a behaviour called bottom crawling/bottom scooting. And that was how he got around from place to place in his house and in his classroom. I worked with him for two or three weeks, and in the second session that I worked with him, he was able to walk by himself unassisted and that was really significant for me. Just to see an improvement in a person’s life, well I think that’s very rewarding.
  
  Chris's story
  
  Become a healer to your community and choose from specialisations in a wide range of areas from sport to women's health.
  Physiotherapist
- Click to watch Ngaree Jannali Blow's story
  “There are more Kooris coming into uni, which is really good to see.”
  
  Ngaree Jannali Blow
  Medical Student,
  Melbourne
  
  I suffered with terrible ear infections I remember growing up crying night after night. That probably did have a big influence on where I am today. My name’s Markeeta Marr, I’m the Hearing health Worker here at Wobbigal Aboriginal Medical Service.
  
  Middle ear disease is probably one of the biggest things that affects our young children. And of course if the kids can’t hear, they can’t learn. So it does have huge impacts on absolutely everything.
  
  First I look in his ears making sure that there’s no infection, and then we do the audio testing with the audiometer. Put some headphones on your ears, we’re looking for the softest levels you can hear. And then we do tympanometry, which is seeing how well your ear drum moves.
  
  It’s quite intimate looking in the children’s ears. You’re getting really close to them, even adults, and if they don’t know you, it’s just not going to work. You need to be able to have a yarn with the mothers and fathers and carers, and accept the big extended families that our mob have.
  
  I started as the receptionist and then I stumbled across a Certificate IV in Audiometric assessment. So I’m doing that through distance correspondence while I’m working.
  
  Well my passions always been hearing, I suppose because I had hearing problems throughout my life. I eventually want to go back to Uni and finish my medical degree.
  
  Not one person in my family has gone to Uni, none of them have even finished school. You know you don’t need to be from an educated family to go on and do further study, because I wasn’t. And if I can get into medicine, there is hope for anyone.
  
  Ngaree's story
  
  Busy hospitals and health clinics depend on health workers for everything from treating patients to creating community health programs.
  Doctor (Medical Practitioner/GP)
- Click to watch Jessica Reardon's story
  “I help people with disabilities and injuries do their daily activities.”
  
  Jessica Reardon
  Occupational Therapist
  Sydney
  
  Well in the beginning I didn’t know Occupational Therapy actually existed, but I always wanted to work in health. I wanted to work in rehab. I wanted to be able to help people. I’m Jessica Reardon. I’m an Occupation Therapy student in Sydney. What happened was I went to open days at Uni. I researched. I found an Occupational Therapy stall, so I went up and spoke to them, and they explained it, and it was basically what I wanted to do.
  
  An Occupational Therapist works with people with disabilities and injuries to help them with their daily activities. You can work with kids, you can work with adults, aged care, teenagers, so all ages.
  So I’m currently on two scholarships. The first one is the Puggy Hunter Memorial scholarship which is a financial scholarship. I’m also on a sports scholarship for volleyball. There is a lot of help and support out there for people so I’ve taken up on that as well.
  
  The indigenous support group has helped me over the past two years. So they supply tutoring groups when you need help with your work, they’ll supply equipment for you and text books for you. It’s just been fantastic.
  
  When I graduate, my goal at the moment is to be able to work with children. I’d like to work with children that have been in severe accidents, which I know sounds sad. I just think it would be a fantastic thing to do.
  
  Well I have a disabled brother and because I’ve grown up in that environment and being around him it’s always made me want to be able to help people, and especially children.
  Working in health is a good thing. I love it. They always need people in health. You can work anywhere; you can work all around the world. You can work with all different ages, and it’s just feels really good to know that you’ve helped someone at the end of the day.
  
  Jessica's story
  
  From assisting those in aged care to helping injured workers get back to work, take pride in helping restore patients' independence and dignity.
  Occupational Therapist
- Click to watch Markeeta Marr's story
  “You don’t need to be from an educated family to do further study.”
  
  Markeeta Marr
  Hearing Health Coordinator,
  Newcastle
  
  I suffered with terrible ear infections I remember growing up crying night after night. That probably did have a big influence on where I am today. My name’s Markeeta Marr, I’m the Hearing health Worker here at Wobbigal Aboriginal Medical Service.
  
  Middle ear disease is probably one of the biggest things that affects our young children. And of course if the kids can’t hear, they can’t learn. So it does have huge impacts on absolutely everything.
  
  First I look in his ears making sure that there’s no infection, and then we do the audio testing with the audiometer. Put some headphones on your ears, we’re looking for the softest levels you can hear. And then we do tympanometry, which is seeing how well your ear drum moves.
  
  It’s quite intimate looking in the children’s ears. You’re getting really close to them, even adults, and if they don’t know you, it’s just not going to work. You need to be able to have a yarn with the mothers and fathers and carers, and accept the big extended families that our mob have.
  
  I started as the receptionist and then I stumbled across a Certificate IV in Audiometric assessment. So I’m doing that through distance correspondence while I’m working.
  
  Well my passions always been hearing, I suppose because I had hearing problems throughout my life. I eventually want to go back to Uni and finish my medical degree.
  
  Not one person in my family has gone to Uni, none of them have even finished school. You know you don’t need to be from an educated family to go on and do further study, because I wasn’t. And if I can get into medicine, there is hope for anyone.
  
  Markeeta's story
  
  Help audiologists in their rewarding work treating people with hearing conditions and gain respect and recognition in your community.
  Audiologist
- Click to watch Leitisha Jackson's story
  “My patients give me confidence because they look to me for help.”
  
  Leitisha Jackson
  Aboriginal Health Work Practitioner
  Katherine
  
  Being here listening to my patients has given me confidence because they look to me for help, even when I’m not at work. That makes me feel good because I know that I’m doing something right.
  
  My name is Leitisha Jackson, I’m one of the Registered Aboriginal Health Workers at Wurli-Wurlinjang Health Service in Katherine.
  
  As a Registered Aboriginal Health Worker, we do basic observations such as weight, height, temperature and blood pressure. We can give out medications, as per their medication chart in their file. We do immunizations, make sure that they are up-to-date, childhood vaccinations and we take bloods if they need to be taken.
  
  Everything is different every day. You just don’t know what you’re going to get. When I go home, I can’t wait to tell everybody what I did today. When I started with my traineeship, I was doing the Cert. III for the Registered Aboriginal Health Workers, and I’ve done my other bit of training, Cert. IV registration. So now I’m a qualified Registered Aboriginal Health Worker.
  I had to do a lot of training in my first year. We had to go off on blocks, so we would go away for two weeks, come back maybe for a month, and then go away for two weeks. So it was like that through the year.
  
  On each block, we did all the heath topics. I found it really fun. I couldn’t wait to come back to the clinic here and just do it on real people. For my Mum and Dad to come and tell me that they’re proud of me, and for my community to tell me that too. That’s a big thing. If we get more young people, then you know, we’ve got more role models. And the younger ones, their younger brothers and sisters, cousins and that, they can look up to us and think, “I want to be an Aboriginal health worker too”.
  
  Leitisha's story
  
  Busy hospitals and health clinics depend on health workers for everything from treating patients to creating community health programs.
  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Work Practitioner
- Click to watch Jose Nuevo's story
  “It’s not only the money, you also get to help your people.”
  
  Jose Nuevo
  Health Care Worker,
  Brisbane
  
  I want to see indigenous people looking after their health. Just to go in there and get a checkup when they need to and just look after themselves a little bit more.
  
  My name is Jose Nuevo, I’m a Sexual Health Care Worker. I work at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane. I’ll do a lot of health promotion in my job. I’ll be screening the youth, talk to them about different STIs - Sexually Transmitted Infections. We’ve got a whole Sexual Health Care Worker system in Brisbane that we all work together. There’s a lot of people that have been in the job a lot longer than I have. I can go ask for other people to help me out if I’m doing a promotion, or if I’m screening, they’ll help me. So we support each other. I did my Certificate III at QATSICHET. It’s an education institution for just indigenous people for health, and I’m doing my Cert. IV now. The Certificate IV gives me a lot more education, learning, not just sexual, mental health, work environments, communication.
  
  Just getting people to actually talk about sexual health is very hard. You have to have an open mind, you know, and you’ve got to be able to adapt to them and not judge them. And try and get them to understand why to screen, and get them to do a screen, and it’s rewarding.
  
  Another good thing in my job is that I get to travel. There’s a great career path in health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Not only the money, but also, they get to help their people in the community out. There’s heaps of opportunities out there.
  
  Jose's story
  
  A job where you can empower groups in your community by helping them to help others.
  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Work Practitioner
- Click to watch Ali Drummond's story
  “To get more of our people into nursing – that’s what inspires me!”
  
  Ali Drummond
  Nurse Advisor,
  Brisbane
  
  Working in health is rewarding because you get to help people every day, and not very many careers get to see that. My name’s Ali Drummond, I’m a Registered Nurse, and currently I’m the Indigenous Nurse Advisor for Queensland Health.
  
  The key areas for my role is to promote Nursing and Midwifery, and I guess to encourage Aboriginals and Torres Straight Islander people to get into Nursing and Midwifery as careers. But also to influence the Nursing and Midwifery practice.
  
  Ever since I was a Health Worker while I was studying to be a Registered Nurse, I’ve always come across situations where I thought if the nurse or the doctor knew something about the culture that they could have delivered the practice a bit better. And you would have had patients that were much more compliant and much more willing to make the decisions for themselves. Right decisions for themselves. So when the opportunity arose to take on a much more influential position in the corporate office, I jumped at the opportunity.
  
  I get to travel and promote Nursing and Midwifery around the community. So I get to hear from communities their stories. Those stories inspire me to continue the work that I’m doing to get more Aboriginal and Torres Straight Island people into Nursing and Midwifery, and to influence our practice. That’s what inspires me to stay here.
  
  My Mum’s definitely very proud of my achievements. You could say my whole family is. I personally am quite humbled by the opportunity, and I still feel that I have a lot more to give to my community.
  What I would like to see in the future for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health is Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health professionals delivering health care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. So whether it’s in communities or in metropolitan areas, that we have Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people there delivering the care.
  
  Ali's story
  
  This is your stepping stone to becoming a registered nurse, with practical hands-on training in a real hospital.
  Nurse - Registered
- Click to watch Ryan McDonald's story
  “I want to help my people break the chain.”
  
  Ryan McDonald
  Social Health Worker,
  Townsville
  
  My grandmother raised me. From when I first started high school, she was a very sick lady, disabled and in a wheelchair. And in 2008, when I lost her, I didn’t want to lose any other family members, so it kind of inspired me to get into this line of work so I could help my people break the chain, and make the next step.
  
  My name’s Ryan McDonald, I’m the Social Health Worker at the Townsville Aboriginal and Islander Health Service. My job is basically looking for emergency relief funding, and I also run the men’s health group. We make sure men are up-to-date with their health checks, checking for prostate cancer and all round health and wellbeing.
  
  You’ve got to be a team player to be in this type of job because, especially in my organisation, we don’t just work amongst ourselves. We work with all the different units to get the best possible outcome for our clients. I’ve currently signed up to do my Cert. IV in Mental Health. I also want to go back to Uni and become a doctor. Well, for me, because me and my cousins running around, we didn’t really worry about doing the OP and stuff at school. So for me to get into Uni, I’d have to do a bridging course and then, after that, six years down the track, hopefully I’ll be working for an indigenous organisation helping my people.
  
  I’ve spoken to my work and they’re quite happy to help me with my studies and then put me on as an internship. I’ll be working and studying part-time. I think getting into health is one of the best opportunities you could possibly take, because there’s so many different areas that you can move into. Seeing my people healthier, live longer is a long term goal that I think the majority of indigenous people want to see.
  
  Ryan's story
  
  Busy hospitals and health clinics depend on health workers for everything from treating patients to creating community health programs.
  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Work Practitioner
- Click to watch Keesha Yamashita's story
  “A great feeling comes over you when you’re helping someone with an illness.”
  
  Keesha Yamashita
  Renal Health Worker,
  Thursday Island
  
  When I first started working in health, I worked in admin, then the opportunity came up for a Health Worker trainee. I just worked my way up, now I’ve got my Certificate IV in Clinical Practice, and still working my way up.
  
  My name is Keesha Yamashita, I’m a Renal Health Worker at the Primary Healthcare Centre on Thursday Island. My goal is to get in and do Nursing, preferably in Renal. Most of my patients have chronic disease, such as diabetes or the chronic kidney failure. So we try to keep on top of them and have them come in for blood checks and stuff.
  
  The blood just shows us how well the kidney is functioning. There are five stages in chronic kidney disease, stage four and five being the end stages. Our job is to keep them above stage four because once they get into the stage four and five, they end up on dialysis, which means that they’ll eventually leave the community.
  
  I get to do not only just clinical stuff, but I do get to go out in the community as well, do awareness and preventative stuff and education. It’s a great job and I love my job. I can’t explain the feeling, but it’s just a great feeling that comes over you that you’re helping someone with an illness.
  
  Keesha's story
  
  Busy hospitals and health clinics depend on health workers for everything from treating patients to creating community health programs.
  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Work Practitioner
- Click to watch Elsie Seriat's story
  “Our area is the backbone of the hospital.”
  
  Elsie Seriat
  Medical Records Supervisor,
  Thursday Island
  
  I started working at the Health Centre as a trainee. When I finished school I got my Certificate III in Administration through TAFE, and then after that there was a job that popped up at the hospital for Medical Records Officer.
  
  My name is Elsie Seriat and I’m currently acting as a supervisor in the Medical Records Department at Thursday Island Hospital.
  
  Our job is to look after all the records for our patients in the whole of Torres Strait. All of the patients clinical notes, their admissions, medication, if they’re allergic to anything, their treatment with the doctors; it’s their history, their history of life.
  
  It involves us working a lot with patients, the nursing staff and the doctors. To work in my job you’d need to have good personal skills, good communication skills and you’d need to be good at the computer, knowing your programs and stuff.
  
  Last year, I had the opportunity to travel and visit all the outer islands to assist the administration staff on how to file the medical records, how to do culling and archiving and keep the records up to date. That was good for me because I’ve never been to some of the outer islands, even though I’ve been born and bred here.
  
  I think our area is the backbone of the hospital because the doctors and nurses wouldn’t be able to do their jobs without the information that we put together for them.
  
  Elsie's story
  
  If you pride yourself on attention to detail, managing patient records might be the job for you.
  Medical Records Coder
- Click to watch Janaya Charles's story
  “I feel clients respond better because we have the same language.”
  
  Janaya Charles
  Physical Activity and Nutrition Worker,
  Melbourne
  
  I guess I’ve always liked hanging around my old people. I just love listening to the stories and the knowledge that they have. My name is Janaya Charles and I’m the Physical Activity and Nutrition Worker in Community Programs at the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service.
  
  I’ve got a Certificate IV in community development, lifestyle and leisure for people with special needs. Most of the people that I see are elderly clients and they have a lot of complex health conditions. They rely on a lot of medication, they couldn’t walk properly. Through coming to the program it’s changed their whole life.
  
  Mondays we run hydrotherapy, Tuesdays we run warm water exercise, Wednesdays we run gentle gym, Thursdays we have indigenous games and self-defence and fortnightly on a Friday we run Diabetes Club.
  
  The running of the program requires a lot of team work and my role is to coordinate and instruct the program. I get a lot of other Aboriginal health organisations calling me up and asking me how we do our program and things like that because they hear how successful it is. As an Aboriginal person myself, I feel that the clients respond better because we have the same language, you know. Visual is very important for Aboriginal people, we’re visual people and I can explain it in terms that they’ll understand.
  
  Janaya's story
  
  From assisting those in aged care to helping injured workers get back to work, take pride in helping restore patients' independence and dignity.
  Occupational Therapist
- Click to watch Jessica Hagan's story
  “It’s just like cooking. My job’s just like following a recipe.”
  
  Jessica Hagan
  Pharmacist,
  Gosford
  
  When I was younger I had a skin condition, and I was very self-conscious about that and I was really lucky to have a lovely pharmacist that really helped me through the ways to treat it and make me feel better about myself, so just really good dealing with them and it made me like the profession.
  
  My name’s Jessica Hagan, I’m a Pharmacist. I’m a Clinical Pharmacist at Wyong and Gosford Hospitals.
  
  I look after all of the medicines for the patients on a ward, so that means reviewing the medications and talking to the patients about anything that might be new or changed for them. We often have to make special preparations, we can make creams and ointments and lots of different things. It’s just like cooking. I love cooking and I feel half the time that my job’s just like following a recipe.
  
  I did a Bachelor of Biomedical Science at the University of Newcastle and then that led me into the Master of Pharmacy. So I’ve done two degrees.
  
  I grew up in a really small little rural village, I guess, called Yarramalong. It was a big scare for me to go to university in the first place. My first day at Uni, I was greeted by the indigenous group at the University of Newcastle, and they were fantastic. They just support you the whole way. Any concerns you have you can always go to them and talk to them. I fitted in really well, made lots of friends and it was a really good experience. It’s a really growing experience, you learn so much, not even just about your degree specifically that you’re doing, but about yourself and where you’re going.
  I was also lucky enough to get a scholarship which allowed me to make sure that I didn’t have to work at the same time that I was studying.
  
  I’d love to see more young indigenous students getting into health and getting out there and helping our people. Sometimes people just don’t think they’re smart enough and it’s just not true at all. You have to put in some hard work but you have to believe in yourself as well.
  
  Jessica's story
  
  Become a pharmacist and the community will look up to you as someone they can trust with their medications and well-being.
  Pharmacist
- Click to watch Jenna Owen's story
  “I didn’t think I could ever do this. I just didn’t give up.”
  
  Jenna Owen
  Optometrist,
  Port Macquarie
  
  I see patients from a wide range of ages, from babies right through to the elderly. My name is Jenna Owen and I’m an Optometrist and I work in Port Macquarie.
  
  I played a lot of sport, never had any trouble seeing the ball, or so I thought, and when I went into the RTA to do my Ps test, I couldn’t read the eye chart. So I met my Optometrist and it just opened up a whole new world for me, and I started applying for scholarships, and I was lucky enough to receive a residential scholarship at the University of New South Wales.
  
  During an eye test, I will measure your vision, what you can see, and I can do eye health checks, so I make sure that the front of your eye is healthy and look through the pupil to the back of the eye. If I find that you have an eye problem, then I’ll suggest the best solution. So if it is just visual-related and I can fix it with glasses, then we prescribe a pair of glasses. If it’s contact lenses then you need several fittings. If it’s an eye disease problem that needs further management, then I refer them to a specialist. If it’s eye infections that can be treated with antibiotic eye drops or so on, then I can prescribe that for people with sore eyes.
  
  I think that Aboriginal people feel more comfortable seeing me about their health problems, and they’re not as embarrassed about asking me questions on things that they don’t know. Because I’ve been in that situation where I had to ask questions about things that I don’t know, and it’s not about feeling silly, it’s about asking the questions and learning so that you can look after yourself better in the future.
  
  When I was younger I didn’t feel as though I had the skills and the opportunities to do what every other kid could do, but I just didn’t give up. Using the support systems that are put in place to help you is really important. Try not to do it all on your own.
  
  Jenna's story
  
  As an optometrist you'll help your community see a brighter future.
  Optometrist
- Click to watch Sarah McEwan's story
  “You don’t have to be the smartest person around to do medicine.”
  
  Sarah McEwan
  Doctor GP Registrar,
  Port Hedland
  
  You need to really be a people person, because medicine is about treating people. So it’s really important to be a good storyteller and I think that’s one of the advantages of a lot of Aboriginal people, is that we can tell stories and listen to stories and repeat those stories.
  
  My name is Sarah McEwan and I work at Hedland Health Campus. I’m a doctor and I’m a General Practitioner, so I do all sorts of different things from delivering babies to working in emergency and looking after people with all sorts of conditions so it’s very exciting.
  
  I feel like I’m actually having an impact, being on the ground and seeing patients on a daily basis. That’s one of the reasons why I wanted to get into health, is to try and improve the health outcomes of our mob and I’m doing that.
  
  Around Year 11 and 12, you have to make a decision about which kind of path you’re going to take. It wasn’t until I went to a careers market that was held close to where my school is that they had a stall there which was talking about medicine, and there was some indigenous faces there, so I thought I would just go up and introduce myself, and basically we just got talking, and I became aware of the indigenous entry program through Newcastle Uni.
  
  It is an entry program that doesn’t require you to be the top of your class. You don’t have to be the smartest person around to actually do medicine, as long as you’re passionate and have commitment. It also provides opportunity for people like myself, who grew up in country areas and didn’t have access to things some of the city kids would have had.
  
  There is financial support in terms of ABSTUDY, there are lots of scholarships available. Certainly the last three years of my university degree, I had some scholarships which were really, really handy.
  
  Working hours are difficult at times, but they’re rewarding in terms of what you get out at the end of it. Certainly the wage is rewarding, and the ability to treat your family is rewarding. The ability to look after your community is certainly rewarding.
  
  You can work all over Australia, all over the world, and I don’t think my parents have stopped talking about the fact that their daughter is a doctor.
  
  Sarah's story
  
  From family doctors to surgeons, this career pathway gives your people a brighter future and comes with support and funding while you study.
  Doctor (Medical Practitioner/GP)
- Click to watch Margaret Martin's story
  “Being the first person to touch a newborn child is a miracle.”
  
  Margaret Martin
  Midwife,
  Perth
  
  What I like most about my job is the feeling I get when I help a mother become a mother. Being the first person to touch a newborn child is a miracle.
  
  My name is Margaret Martin. I’m a student Midwife and I work mainly in the Perth metro area. My job is looking after women during pregnancy and when they have their babies and after they have their babies.
  
  I never finished high school so I had to do a tertiary entrance program to get into university. I started my Bachelor of Midwifery. It’s a three year degree. I’m on ABSTUDY. I’m also a recipient of the Rotary Health Scholarship for indigenous students and that definitely helps out.
  
  With more Aboriginal Midwives in the system, we’ll have more culturally-sensitive care and we can lower these bad statistics that Aboriginal women seem to have for child birth. I had a woman who came down from the Kimberley. I knew her family. She had a very complex pregnancy and she was telling the doctor to go away in her language, and I knew what she was saying and she was pushing him away and I said to her, Sister listen, we need you to stop. We need you to do this for us, so we can save your life. I believe that my bond with her made a difference to her and made a difference to her baby.
  
  My future is a very big future. I really want to start an Aboriginal birth centre where women can come and have their classes, have their care and they can feel comfortable, they’re in a culturally-appropriate sensitive place where this is all women for women’s business.
  
  Margaret's story
  
  Play a part in bringing new babies into the world in this highly recognised and respected role.
  Midwife
- Click to watch Carmen Cooms-Delaney's story
  “The thing I like most about my job is you learn different things every day.”
  
  Carmen Cooms-Delaney
  Administration Officer,
  Mt Isa
  
  I love working in the health field, it’s kind of like my calling. I like looking after people. I get the patients ready, make sure they understand what they are doing, what they are going through on the day, what the process is. It’s a great experience. When you come to work you don’t know what to expect each day.
  
  My name’s Carmen Cooms-Delaney, I’m an Admin Officer and I work at the X-ray Department at the Mt Isa Base Hospital.
  
  I hope that I can act as some sort of liaison for other indigenous patients especially a lot of the indigenous girls that come in, they are very shy, they are very shame, they don’t want to come up, and if you talk loud at them, they don’t want anything to do with you. They’ll just back away and they won’t come back.
  
  Being an indigenous person myself, I treat them with the respect that I think I deserve when I go somewhere. The thing I like most about my job is you learn different things every day. When I first started, I had no idea about x-rays, body parts and what-not.
  
  My first job was working in a sandwich shop and now I’ve come up to the hospital and working at the x-ray department. It’s a big change, but it was a great change. I am keen to do further study. My bosses and the owners of the practice have both encouraged me to get onto studying and they are willing to help.
  
  The only advice I would give is don’t sell yourself short. There’s opportunities for everyone out there. Don’t ever think that you could never do it.
  
  Carmen's story
  
  If you're great with people, a medical receptionist is a great pathway into the healthcare industry.
  Medical Receptionist

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