NT experience
reshapes Medical
training

Dr Emma Kennedy

NT experience
reshapes medical training

Dr Emma Kennedy

“Each day I go on a walk near my house in Darwin and I see people in a worse off situation than me, because of the socio-economic determinants of health.”

“Of course, it is not my position to make a judgement,” Associate Professor Emma Kennedy says. “I might value my education and my family’s experiences and opportunities highly – and I do – but that doesn’t mean those things are of more value than the life of someone who has grown up and appreciated what the land means to them.

“I had a patient in a wheelchair who preferred to be living in the long-grass, outdoors near a beach. There were so many well-meaning people trying to move him into a house, but he really valued the lifestyle that he had.”

As the Director of the Northern Territory Medical Program, Emma is re-shaping educational experiences for medical students in the Northern Territory. She is very conscious of the need to equip graduates with an understanding and appreciation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture.

As a practicing GP and leading medical academic based in Darwin, Emma is excited about the opportunity to build a workforce equipped to practice in the NT.

“Practicing medicine in the NT has given me an equally strong sense of what needs to happen and also the disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous health,” Emma says.

“I get frustrated by the ignorance which means policies and decision making don’t adequately provide for the populations that are in dire health need.

“Being a doctor enables me to evaluate why people are unhealthy.

“When the answer comes back (from the patient history that the cause is) disrespect, lack of dignity, or lack of understanding about culture and health, I take all those examples and look at how we can address them in the curriculum.

“The medical profession has a lot of power in being able to define things and raise awareness of them, so in my position I need to be aware of how that power is managed.

“Because there is such a health need and because the health need sits within a larger context, we need to address the ignorance about Aboriginal culture in order to make a significant impact on health.

“Our initiatives to focus on the individual more is significant for all Territorians, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, because with better understanding and communication we can get them the healthcare they need.

“Reconciliation is about working out where things have gone wrong and recognising that. There isn’t a need to beat each other over the back; the biggest thing is to come together and move forward together.”

Emma grew up in Papua New Guinea and Darwin watching the impact her father had as a GP, while also listening to her mother’s passion for cultural respect, which eventually led to a PhD on the effect of cultural identity on the understanding of health.

As the daughter of two doctors, it was hardly a surprise that Emma pursued medicine at Flinders in Adelaide before finding her sense of belonging in Darwin. The opportunity to live around greater numbers of Aboriginal people and gain a deeper insight into culture and context made her a passionate advocate for furthering reconciliation in her work.

“Our society can’t change if we are not aware of the problems and prepared to face up to them and own them,” Emma says.

“Reconciliation is about working out where things have gone wrong and recognising that. There isn’t a need to beat each other over the back; the biggest thing is to come together and move forward together.

“Through the NTMP I can influence a curriculum, set priorities, and drive a focus on integrating how individual patients and people influence the learning of the doctor.

“I also am recognising the need to give more access to Aboriginal people in our program to translate real everyday issues for students and to carry the humour and stories of the human condition into the program, so that it is real.

“I am just so grateful to have agency and the opportunity to make a difference.”

Celebrating doctors across the NT