The largest cohort of Aboriginal graduate doctors will begin working in hospitals around Australia next year.
Six Indigenous students graduated this year with a medicine degree at the University of New South Wales.
Justine Brindle from the university’s rural clinical school said it was the highest number of Aboriginal medicine graduates the university had ever recorded.
“What’s great is we don’t have a quota for how many Indigenous students we take,” she said.
“There will be Indigenous doctors who have an understanding of the health issues. More Indigenous people are likely to go to a doctor if they know they’re Indigenous.”
Graduate doctor Jessica Wade said she would begin her career in Bankstown, in Sydney’s south-west.
“Bankstown Hospital is my local hospital where I’ve grown up and all my family are from,” Ms Wade said.
“I think it’s important for Aboriginal people to be in the health industry because for other Aboriginal people you can help create a safe environment.”
UNSW has stepped up its recruitment drive in the hope of getting more Indigenous high school students to study medicine.
There are now 49 students enrolled in the program.
Many of the Indigenous students will go on to work in regional communities.
Aboriginal graduate Murray Haar said he had chosen Albury in New South Wales to complete his internship.
“It’s a degree where you have a career at the end where you can really make a difference, you can be a role model to other Aboriginal kids,” he said.
“It’s lots of hard work along the way but the best thing is don’t let anyone tell you can’t do it because it’s absolutely possible for everyone who has the desire to do it.”
The university said financial support was critical for Indigenous students who had moved away from their families to complete their degrees.
General manager of The Balnaves Foundation offered scholarships to some of the Aboriginal graduates to help them pay for living expenses.
“Medicine is an extremely difficult degree, you don’t get much free time at all, there’s really not much time to do work outside of your degree,” Mr Balnaves said.
It is estimated that about 300 Aboriginal students are enrolled in medicine degrees at various Australian universities.