Ebony Keenan – Associate Nurse Unit Manager/Registered Nurse
Proud Palawa woman Ebony Keenan gained early acceptance into the graduate program through the Indigenous Program in 2019 and is now focusing on her post graduate studies. As a Registered Nurse working in the mental health space, she understands how imperative her knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal culture and history is to informing her work.
“The knowledge of generational trauma is incredibly important because we have a lot of Indigenous consumers. When they come to see us, some of the staff don’t always understand the concept of generational trauma and why people behave the way they behave and the decisions that they make in their life. I think knowledge about that definitely helps in the area that I work in.”
Caroline Dowling – Co-Director, Medical Student Programs
Caroline Dowling has been caring for the Eastern Health community since 2013. She was Head of Urology for six years, before moving on as Co-Director of Medical Student Programs. Having close to two decades of experience in healthcare, Caroline is aware of the many barriers Indigenous people face.
“It is important to have staff who are representative of all the cultural breadth in our community and our Indigenous culture is the first culture of this country and one that should be proudly seen and celebrated. In doing so, we provide a Culturally Safe space for the care of Indigenous Australians who have the worst health outcomes of any group and the improvement of these will only come through providing Culturally Safe care.”