Record number of Indigenous doctors graduate from UNSW

UNSW Medicine celebrated a milestone today with the graduation of six Indigenous doctors – the highest number in a single year.

The graduations cement UNSW’s place as a leader in Indigenous medical education. Most of the group are the first in their families to attend university and credit UNSW’s unique Indigenous support program and scholarships with helping them to realise their ambitions.

All six of the students entered UNSW's medical program through the Rural Clinical School's pre-medicine entry into medicine program

Graduate Khyarne Biles will return to Dubbo, her hometown, to begin her medical career. She is passionate about improving Indigenous health, and hopes to train as an obstetrician or paediatrician serving remote areas of far west NSW.

“I am an outgoing, hardworking and proud Aboriginal woman who is committed to making a difference to the health outcomes of my people,” says Biles.

Graduate Murray Haar – a Wiradjuri man – started his journey to medical school at UNSW in 2006 when he attended a Nura Gili Winter School, which introduces high school students to the world of tertiary education.

“The support and friendship of my fellow Indigenous medical students had a resounding impact on my ability to succeed through the program – we encouraged one another through some very tough and trying times and carried each other to the finish line,” says Haar, an aspiring psychiatrist or pain medicine specialist who will do his internship in the Albury-Wodonga region.

Mr Mick Peachey, student services manager at Nura Gili, has known some of the students since they attended Winter School as teenagers: “We’re proud of all our alumni and all our students who get through their degree because we know how hard they worked, and we’ve walked beside them throughout their studies,” he says, describing the pride that comes with students such as Biles returning to their community as doctors.