Fourth-year medicine student Amelia Tulip had a long standing interest in health care professions but always thought becoming a doctor was out of her reach.
Some years after dropping out of nursing school, Amelia entered a program for Indigenous students interested in medicine. The organisation worked with her to identify a pathway to entering medical school, and then supported her progress through the system.
For Amelia this meant doing a Bachelor of Health before applying to the Miroma Bunbilla program, a pre-entry pathway to medicine for Indigenous students.
You do a week in the life of a medical student. You're really well supported by other students and the teachers... You do classes, you do anatomy and theoretical stuff, and then at the end of the week, you do the normal testing, like everybody else has to do... They just watch you over the week and see how you manage.Amelia Tulip
Once accepted into medical school, Amelia managed the long hours and workload by staying focused and steadily chipping away at the work.
I think in medicine, there's this culture of nobody showing their cards. It's kind of a big bluff. People act like they're really on top of things all the time while they're all actually losing the plot, and they're stressed out of their minds.
She says the best way to counter the stress is to stay connected.
You have to reach out to your friends. You've got to tell people, 'If you're not coping, you got to reach out for help'. And if you're off country, reach out to the local community. Get involved, because your culture will strengthen you internally.
LISTEN TO
Medical School: Finding your path into medicine
SBS NITV Radio
21/09/202319:31
is a health podcast for Indigenous peoples by Indigenous peoples. Host Dr Mikayla Couch interviews First Nations health care professionals to pick their brains and learn from their work. Follow the podcast in the or your preferred podcast app.
