It’s been five years and a 3000 kilometre journey for some Indigenous students who finally attended their graduation at The University of Queensland this month.
One of the largest cohort of Indigenous health students ever to take part in a graduation attended the ceremony on Monday, December 5.
Around 15 students, including some of the first Indigenous Health graduates, who graduated in 2002, attended the St Lucia ceremony at 11am. Graduates from as far away as Thursday Island and Bamaga in far north Queensland, as well as Western Australia, attended, along with students from Southeast Queensland.
Most students from remote areas were unable to attend ceremonies in their graduation year, due to the cost of travel. This year, Centre for Indigenous Health lecturer, Condy Canuto, helped organise Abstudy funding to bring present and former students together to attend the event.
“The Indigenous Health program is being redeveloped. I thought it was a great opportunity for students of the current program to receive official recognition for their degree and get together as a group. A special graduation dinner has also been arranged,” Mr Canuto said.
Almost 100 students have graduated since the degree was first introduced 11 years ago and nearly three quarters of these have been Indigenous. The degree also attracted a small number of international indigenous students, from Papua New Guinea, Tonga, East Timor, New Zealand and El Salvador.
The program evolved at the request of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Queensland and in response to policy initiatives in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. It prepares students for careers as Health Workers, Health Promotion Officers and Public Health Professionals, with graduates often returning to their local communities to implement health services and programs.
2005 Graduate John Brady, a Health Worker at the Inala Community Health Centre’s Indigenous Health Unit, said the degree had broadened his professional opportunities and enabled him to research as area of interest – Indigenous men’s health.
“I wanted to increase my skills to help better manage the complex array of health issues the Indigenous population is facing at Inala,” he said.
Mr Brady’s third-year research project focused on Indigenous men’s participation in men’s health groups and some of the barriers preventing participation.
Media: For more information please contact Condy Canuto, mobile 0413 386 777.
