Bond Uni’s first Indigenous doctors graduate with a mission to serve

The first Indigenous graduates of Bond University’s medical degree hope their example will encourage others.

Myora Stone (left) and Brioney Keats have just graduated as doctors at Bond University. Picture: Cavan Flynn

Myora Stone and Brioney Keats are the first Indigenous medical students to graduate from Bond University.

“My family is the Kombumerri people of Southport which is actually the land Bond is built on,” Dr Stone said. She is Bond’s inaugural Indigenous Medical Scholarship recipient, while Dr Keats took up a Puggy Hunter Memorial Scholarship in her second year, awarded through the Australian College of Nursing.

Both women credit their grandfathers for inspiring them.

“My grandfather was a huge support,” Dr Stone said. “He really wanted it to happen.

“He was so proud of the idea of having a granddaughter that would be a doctor, and the first Indigenous doctor in our family.”

Dr Keats, of the Gamilaroi people in NSW, said her grandfather’s death when she was in the second year of her degree had been “very difficult”.

“My experience of culture when I was younger was very limited,” Dr Keats said. “We found out later in life than most people would normally that we were Aboriginal, and from then it’s been quite the journey. [My grandfather is] the root of my identity and my heritage and that’s where I see it coming from. I wish he could’ve been here to see me graduate.”

Next year the pair will be interns with Gold Coast Health and both considering general practice. Dr Stone also has an interest in dermatology, while Dr Keats is considering the eventually opening a clinic combining Western and traditional medicine.

Dr Keats said she hoped other Indigenous students would be encouraged by her and Dr Stone’s gaining their medical degrees.

Bond offers scholarships of up to 100 per cent for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students commencing in the 2021 medical program. They cover accommodation and a living bursary for the first semester of studies to assist with the transition of the students to the Gold Coast.