National Faculty of Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Health
QLD GP makes a difference to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health
25 February 2010
Queensland GP Dr Brad Murphy holds the health issues faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people close to his heart. This is why he has played a large part in the development of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) National Faculty of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health.
The establishment of the new national faculty was announced recently and sees the RACGP continuing its long-term commitment to leading the way in addressing the challenges in improving health care outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
An Aboriginal man from the Kamilaroi people of northwest NSW, Dr Murphy knew he wanted to work in medicine from a young age; however he left high school with a year 10 pass to join the Navy. Dr Murphy has now been a GP for five years. During his career as a GP, he has practiced in rural and remote areas, including 18 months as a medical student in Mount Isa (northwest Queensland ) and several years in Theodore (west Queensland). He currently works as a solo general practitioner in Eidsvolod (central Queensland), servicing a community of around 1,000 people.
Dr Murphy said that prior to becoming a GP, he worked in a variety of roles including a stint in the navy and working as an intensive care paramedic in NSW and as a paramedic with the Royal Flying Doctor Service at Uluru (Ayers Rock) before returning to study medicine as mature age student.
“After a long illness, I planned to study multimedia, but when I opened the QTAC guide, the page it fell on was for the new medical course at James Cook University that had a strong focus on indigenous health. I took this as a sign and applied!”
According to Dr Murphy, there are a number of challenges facing GPs in improving the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. These include access to healthy choices regarding diet, health resources and specialists, enhancing community involvement, establishing rapport and building trust with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients and educating and enthusing local communities about health, the ongoing costs involved and the despair often evident in such communities about their own health.
“By embracing the strategies needed to bring about sustainable change for the health outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, we will be shaping the face of health care delivery to all Australians – no one loses and we all gain from this approach. This really is a ‘Celebration of a Nation'.
“The health issues facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are important to me for personal reasons. These are my people and my family. The disparities in health outcomes in remote communities hit close to home for me,” he said.
Dr Murphy, who is the inaugural Chair of the RACGP's new faculty, believes it will provide support in terms of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health across the multi-faceted spectrum of general practice, incorporating a collaborative care approach.
“There is no ‘one-size-fits-all' model in regards to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. GPs now have somewhere to go for support with these issues and the RACGP is providing specific direction for GPs for how to effectively deal with these communities, as well as providing increased cultural awareness.
“This is an exciting time for the college and I know this initiative will be successful because of the dedication of the team involved. I found the process to get the faculty up and running to be easy as the timing was right. People are now more aware than ever of the health issues faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and my main focus in the coming years will be attracting and retaining people to assist in this cause,” he said.
For more information about the RACGP's National Faculty of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health, visit www.racgp.org.au/aboriginalhealthunit.