Scholarships give more indigenous students a career in medicine, as GP cohort have record exam season

All of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander GPs in training passed the latest Clinical Competency Exam, with programs like the Puggy Hunter Scholarship allowing better access than ever.

The next generation of Indigenous medical students is entering the sector more qualified, with one graduate getting the first 100 per cent exam pass rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander GPs in training.

All Indigenous GPs in training are expected to pass the Clinical Competency Exam, a test to assess readiness for independent practice, with a pass rate rising from 46 per cent in 2017 to 75 per cent in 2022.

Among the cohort was Sarah Rebecca Clarke, training as a GP since 2021, who passed the CCE with high marks.

Dr Clarke, who works at the Awabakal Aboriginal Medical Service in Hunter, said she valued the holistic approach that GP work could bring.

“For our Indigenous population, general practice is usually the first preference rather than engaging emergency,” she said. “Being an Indigenous doctor gives you an unspoken cultural background, even if that’s not the community your family is from.”

One of the biggest aids to Indigenous medicine and specialised training in recent years has been the Puggy Hunter Scholarship, which is for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander undergraduate students and provides up to $15,000 to each of the 300 recipients.

For recipient Ellen Archer, it was the most generous scholarship in health fields she had encountered. “Prior to when I did my degree, when I was in high school I was in the QATSIF scholarship program,” Ms Archer said.

“After that I kind of thought to myself, I’m going to apply for every scholarship under the sun.”

She completed her bachelor of nursing at the Australian Catholic University and will soon start work at Toowoomba Base hospital, hoping to one daywork in Indigenous medicine and treatment.

“The scholarships have supported 1400 students to complete their studies,” Australian College of Nursing chief Kylie Ward said.

Australian College of Nursing chief executive Kylie Ward. Picture: Supplied

“That means more First Nations nurses, midwives, doctors, dentists and allied health workers in the health system and directly helping patients in their own local communities in many cases.”

Ms Archer went into nursing after her own health struggles as a child, having received open heart surgery at age seven. “Who I relied on was my nurses; I still remember them to this day,” Ms Archer said.

“I know what it’s like for someone to be in a hospital bed.”

Applications for the 2024 Puggy Hunter Scholarships close on October 10. There will be up to 300 scholarships.

Currently 3.1 per cent of work-eligible Indigenous Australians are registered in health professions, where they are under-represented compared with 15 per cent of the Australian workforce employed in the sector.

The AIHW has said that amending this disparity was essential to improving the accessibility of healthcare among Indigenous communities and upholding the cultural safety of Indigenous patients.

Many industry bodies see educational support as a necessity for the workforces, as nurses are the most geographically dispersed health workforce in Australia, and growing overextended.

“The saturation in the hospital is incredible, there are no beds available and the waiting times are even longer,” Ms Archer said. “People come to hospitals for things a GP could treat but no one wants to pay that money.”

Aged Care Nursing and Allied Health Scholarships are also up for offer. Aged-care support is one of the fields most acutely affected by a dispersed medical workforce because of the consistency of care often required by patients.