Our Aboriginal Health Education program allows us to support students learning about the culture, historical experiences and health of Aboriginal people. The program is led by the Aboriginal Health Academic Lead and educators from the Bundjalung Nation and is conducted in a range of settings, from the classroom to overnight cultural immersion stays on country.
While on placement all students with us are provided with Aboriginal health education in some form. The sessions may extend from lectures to experiences.
Some of the learning opportunities include:
- Goori Book Club
- Movie Night
- NAIDOC events around the region
- Health event days in the community with Aboriginal health services
- Opportunities for students to be involved in our Baribunmani Wanyi Ngay program.
Cultural Immersion
Long-stay medical students spend one to two days on country with the Aboriginal Health Education team and local Aboriginal community members to talk about Aboriginal people, life in a rural area, health, and history. Students are asked to extend their thinking to the future and how they can respond to the social determinants of health, and what role they play as individuals and as future medical professionals.
Baribunmani Wanyi Ngay
Baribunmani Wanyi Ngay is our youth program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander high school students. Our goal is to inspire young people to consider a career in health.
Baribunmani Wanyi Ngay is a Bundjalung phrase that means ‘I dreamed about you’ and reflects the key message of the program: careers in health are attainable for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people.
We offer a fun and interactive half-day session at our Lismore Campus. Young people are given the opportunity to undertake hands-on simulation and virtual reality activities led by medical and allied health university students who are undertaking rural placements in the area. Young people learn practical health-related skills such as suturing, pharmacy, first responder skills and more. University students on placement with us share their experiences of student life and young people are introduced to the wide range of health careers available.
We want young people to be able to dream about themselves as future health professionals and we want to show them how impactful a career in healthcare can be. The long-term objective of the program is to increase the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people employed in the health workforce on the NSW North Coast, improving the cultural safety of local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Please contact our Aboriginal Health Education team to find out more about Baribunmani Wanyi Ngay.
Graduate Diploma of Indigenous Health Promotion
We host a cohort of students undertaking the University of Sydney Graduate Diploma of Indigenous Health Promotion once a year. The Graduate Diploma is designed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers and people passionate about health promotion, the health of their people, and wanting to be a part of closing the health gap.
There are two intakes for the Graduate Diploma each year, and we encourage local residents to consider this path. More information about content, costs and prerequisites is available from the University.
Find out more about the Graduate Diploma of Indigenous Health Promotion.
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