→ Shalom Gamarada Ngiyani Yana Residential Scholarship, UNSW

"I'm the same as anybody that has a dream. The only difference is that I've been given the opportunity to achieve mine," says Jenna Owen (Luxottica), who, after Shannon Packham, is one of the first Aboriginal students in the country to study optometry - the skills to conduct eye examinations and prescribe and supply eye glasses.

Jenna, along with Rosie Ross and Beth Kervin, are amongst the first recipients of a new scholarship program which will boost the numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students attending the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

From Albert in central NSW, Jenna is also the first person in her large extended family to attend university.

"I go after what I want and my family is so supportive. They always said, 'Jen, you can do it' – but they never knew how."

The scholarship program is funded by the proceeds of Shalom Gamarada Ngiyani Yana, an annual sale and auction of work by acclaimed Aboriginal artists. The scholarship is also supported by private donors and corporate sponsors.

Students receive scholarships valued at $15,000 per year, which covers academic tuition and boarding at Shalom College, UNSW.

The program sprang from a conversation between Associate Professor Dr Lisa Jackson Pulver, Director, Muru Marri Indigenous Health Unit, School of Public Health & Community Medicine, UNSW, and Ms Ilona Lee, President of the Shalom Institute, on National Sorry Day 2004; resulting today in a partnership between UNSW's Shalom College, Nura Gili Indigenous Programs and Muru Marri.

"We need Aboriginal doctors to tell us what to do, to provide leadership, guidance and insight in addressing the problems, and the causes of the problems, Aboriginal people are facing," said UNSW Professor of General Practice, Dr Mark Harris, during the exhibition's expert panel discussion in 2006.

"Few other students face the levels of socio-economic disadvantage Aboriginal students do, linked to alienation from land, discrimination, and Stolen Generations issues," said Professor Harris.

To address these issues early, Nura Gili conducts an annual Winter School, a residential career program for Indigenous school students where, in a culturally safe way, students are given a taste of university life and encounter role models such as Aboriginal pharmacists, epidemiologists and other Aboriginal health professionals.

Nura Gili's Winter School is unique amongst similar programs around the country for its content and size. Unfortunately, despite their importance in providing a glimpse of a wide world of opportunities, these programs often struggle for appropriate recognition and recurrent funding.

There is a national target to have an additional 350 Indigenous students enrolled in medicine by 2010. Universities with proven outcomes in supporting Indigenous medical students include Newcastle, which at the time of writing has graduated 51 Indigenous doctors and each year guarantees eight places to Year 1 entrants. James Cook, which dedicates five of its 60 places to Indigenous students and Western Australia, where up to eight Indigenous entry level places are available in Medicine and two in Dentistry.

In South Australia, a partnership between the Department of Human Services and Rotary International contributes $200,000 annually towards a sponsorship program to support medical students. In NSW in 2006, a population health scholarship pilot program commenced at the University of Wollongong, working in partnership with the South Eastern Sydney and Illawarra Area Health Services.

UNSW with its commitment to training Indigenous doctors, commits a place to all students who complete the Indigenous pre-medicine program. There is no cap to the number of Indigenous student places at any one time. In 2006, 11 Indigenous students were in medicine. In 2007 there are almost half that number again commencing first year.

Associate Professor Sue Green, Director of Nura Gili, helps the students settle into life at medical school. "As an Indigenous person constantly dealing with ill health and death in my family and community, this is a very important program," she says.

"Currently we have less than 100 Indigenous doctors in the country and approximately the same number of students. While that's a fantastic number, it's not enough."

Through their Indigenous Entry into Medicine program, UNSW is well on the way to achieving best practice in the recruitment and retention of Indigenous medical students.

"We have not had one single student drop out because of lack of accommodation since this program began. We have gone from a university with one of the worst retention rates [of Indigenous students], to one of the best," says Professor Jackson Pulver.

"Shalom Gamarada has allowed us to provide on-campus accommodation and meals to students in a city which is arguably the most expensive in the country," she says.

"Not only that, through their agency as the creators of the artworks, many of the artists involved in the exhibition are making a deliberate contribution to improvements in Aboriginal health outcomes."

Find out more

Muru Marri Indigenous Health Unit
Phone: 02 9385 1769
Website: www.sphcm.med.unsw.edu.au/sphcmweb.nsf/page/mmihu

Shalom College
Phone: 02 9663 1366
Website: www.shalomcollege.unsw.edu.au/content/view/28/