Most of all she saw how learning to drive for many young Indigenous people is their “first goal to kick” which then gives them the confidence to take on other challenges. Marlee saw first-hand how the work that she and others put into the program really ‘paid off’ and discovered how rewarding it was to be able to ‘give back’ to communities. This has been a real motivator for Marlee as she returns to her studies this year.
Marlee’s own interest in medicine as a possible career began while still at school in her home town of Mareeba, just outside of Cairns in northern Queensland. Observing family members suffering from chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardio-vascular disease gave her an interest in doing some voluntary work at the local Aboriginal Medical Service. Before long, Marlee was heading off to Sydney at the ripe old age of 17, to participate in the UNSW Pre-Medicine program and ultimately to enrol at UNSW as a full time medicine student. The courage and commitment Marlee has shown is an inspiration to any young person thinking about taking on a challenge, whether it be learning to drive, or moving away from home and embarking on university studies. Marlee’s sense of excitement about the Driving Change program is quite infectious. Her confidence in speaking about all aspects of this issue is a great advertisement for the Driving Change project and will no doubt inspire people to get involved. For anyone who would like to know more please go to http://www.georgeinstitute.org.au/projects/driving-change by Lisa Watts Lisa Watts recently joined the staff at Nura Gili as an Academic Support Officer working mainly with Indigenous students in the Faculty of Medicine. Lisa previously worked in the Rural Clinical School at UNSW where she was involved in medical education research projects including a study on graduate destinations; developing a program to teach clinical ethics to medical students in rural settings and more recently exploring students' use of Apps to assist with time-management.
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