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Growing number of Indigenous doctors must be encouraged
The recruitment and retention of Indigenous medical students is vital to closing the Indigenous health gap, according to Foundation Chair in Indigenous Health at the University of Melbourne Professor Ian Anderson.
Event details
LIME Dinner and LIMELight Awards, ZINC, Federation Square, Corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets, Melbourne
When: Thursday, December 3
Time: 7:00 – 11:00 pm
* The University of Melbourne will be filming this event, and are happy to send required footage via DVN line.
For more information and to organise interviews contact:
Emma O’Neill, Media Officer, Melbourne University: T: 03 83447220 M: 0432758734
“In order to develop the platform for innovation in Indigenous health we need a quality, skilled workforce— and it is imperative that that health workforce is indigenised,” he says.
“Indigenous Australians can play a critical role in the delivery of Indigenous health services by ensuring that they align their technical knowledge and skills with the best possible health care and health prevention.”
The number of Indigenous doctors and medical students in Australia has been steadily increasing during the past 20 years, creating a reassuring trend for medical leaders determined to close the Indigenous health gap. Between1983-1992 there were only seven Indigenous medical graduates in Australia, in contrast, latest figures show 140 Indigenous medical students are currently studying across the nation.
Professor Anderson will be honoured tonight at the LIMElight awards as being among the first cohort of Indigenous medical professionals in Australia.
The LIMElight awards are presented by the Indigenous Medical Education (LIME) network.
The Leaders in Indigenous Medical Education (LIME) network is a project of the Medical Deans of Australia and New Zealand hosted by Onemda VicHealth Koori Health Unit within the School of Population Health at The University of Melbourne and funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.
