Call to ‘amplify Indigenous voices in medicine’ this NAIDOC Week

Dr Joanne Kaczmarek says she took the ‘scenic route’ to becoming a doctor.
 
In her diverse career, she has been an accountant and a diplomat, and now, she is well on her way to becoming a rural GP.
 
Today, as an intern working in the Townsville Hospital’s emergency department (ED), and with around 240 people coming through each day, her shift can involve ‘figuring out the cause of delirium in a nursing home patient, to stitching up a laceration, to dealing with someone with chest pain’.
 
But what shaped her into the doctor she is today happened long before she ever stepped into the medical field.
 
As a child, she lived on Badu Island in the Torres Strait, home to around 700 people.
 
This NAIDOC Week, Dr Kaczmarek said this immersion in the island’s community and culture shaped who she is and how she approaches medicine and healthcare today.
 
‘We didn’t have a permanent GP on Badu, so I know what it’s like to not have access to a doctor and I also understand how hard it can be to have to travel away from home to get healthcare,’ she told newsGP.
 
‘This is definitely a strong driver behind me wanting to work in rural or remote places.
 
‘As much as our health system needs fixing, as a Torres Strait Islander, I’m ready to work with what we have right now and do what I can to try and make change, however small, for the better.’
 
Dr Kaczmarek said respect is a large part of Torres Strait Islander culture, and this has taught her to treat every patient ‘with the respect I would give to my elders no matter who they are’.
 
This culture has also given her a unique view of medicine and healing.
 
‘Having grown up hearing about traditional healers and traditional healing practices I’m open minded about traditional and alternative medicines,’ she said.
 
‘Bush foods and bush medicines will play a prominent role in the future of health and healthcare, and in Australia we’re lucky enough to have the world’s oldest knowledge bank on the superfoods that grow here.’
 
NAIDOC Week’s theme for 2024 is ‘Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud‘ and is aimed at celebrating the ‘unyielding spirit of our communities and invites all to stand in solidarity, amplifying the voices that have long been silenced’.
 
In line with this theme, Dr Kaczmarek said there is still a lot of change needed in Australia to create a truly equal and accessible healthcare system.
 
The health statistics for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make for sobering reading.
 
Currently, 46% of people have at least one chronic condition, 17% have anxiety, 13% have depression, 37% smoke daily, and 37% of children are overweight or obese.
 
Dr Kaczmarek said a major barrier to accessing healthcare is a negative bias towards Indigenous peoples which continues to impact care.
 
‘The thing about stereotypes and biases is that if they’re not challenged, they will persist, so unless people within the healthcare system change their hearts and minds and hold a positive regard for Indigenous peoples, we can expect to see much of the same,’ she said.
 
‘The work that has been done to articulate and embed the role of the GP in Indigenous health shows in the increasing number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples each year who prefer to see a mainstream GP for their health concerns.
 
‘The key to doing things better is helping to amplify Indigenous voices in medicine and helping to support and produce the next generation of GPs who are ready to provide high-quality care for all members of the community.
 
‘I think we’re on the right track.’
 
And as she makes her way through her medical training with the goal of becoming a rural GP front of mind, Dr Kaczmarek said her current role in a busy ED is helping her to recognise the profession more than ever.
 
‘I’ve come to appreciate how important GPs are in keeping people out of hospital, and also in following patients up after they’ve been to hospital,’ she said.
 
‘GPs, and rural GPs in particular, get to really know their patients over time, and become part of the communities that they live and work in.
 
‘Being embedded like that gives GPs the chance to practice what I think is the best kind of medicine, holistic medicine, because GPs get to really understand the patient, their family, and the community around them.
 
‘There’s a massive need for GPs right across Australia and a GP’s skills and expertise are in high demand everywhere. A career as a GP can quite literally take you anywhere.’
 
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health NAIDOC Week rural healthcare