Last Friday the Limestone Coast Aboriginal Health Careers Expo was held at the Mount Gambier UniSA campus, with 25 Year 10 students attending from the Limestone Coast & Western Victoria regions.

Initiated by Pangula Mannamurna Aboriginal Corporation, the event included presentations from TAFE SA, the University of South Australia, Limestone Coast Local Health Network and Flinders University.

Flinders Rural and Remote Health were invited to speak about Medicine and Paramedicine disciplines. Dr Carrie McKenzie, GGT Regional Director, Clinical Educator and proud Indigenous woman, spoke about pathways to the medical program at Flinders, the MD Rural Stream and Paramedicine (focussing on the Regional External Program).

Health professionals from other disciplines (including Nursing, Midwifery, Social Work, Aboriginal Health Practitioner, Aboriginal Health Worker, Nutrition & Food Science, Pharmacy, Speech Pathology, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy & Dietetics) also presented,  providing students with details on what they do, where students can study, the duration of the degree and where the career can take them.

Activity sessions from each discipline followed, allowing the high school students to speak directly with students/professionals and participate in degree specific exercises.  Flinders University’s 2023 GGT MDRS students Stephanie Louey, Madison Lowe & Mary Zhao provided blood pressure and reflex tests as well as a “Where would you find…?” questionnaire using the Gutsy Gus mannequin.

Flinders Nutrition students, Jack Robertson & Sarah Sealy (currently on placement in Mt Gambier) engaged the students in tasting various supplements used for treating patients with medical conditions or for patients who require nutrient supplementation.

Yungkurrinthi Student Engagement – Student Support Officer, Alisha Uswatte connected with students via Teams later in the day to inform students about the Indigenous Entry Stream, the Indigenous Admission Scheme and the Yungkurrinthi Tutorial Program (YTP)  for students.