Curriculum Influencing Medical Education

Discuss about the Curriculum Influencing Medical Education.

Introduction

The report summarizes the poor health condition of the Aboriginal and Torres Islanders of Australia and further explores that what can be done for them to get them out of their present condition. It is seen that the health issues of indigenous people are way more than the non-indigenous people of Australia (Parameswaran, et al., 2012). Thus the report sheds light on the factors those are responsible for these issues and how they can be solved.

It is a matter of fact that ATIS people are generally in a poorer health condition than non-indigenous people of Australia in today’s scenario. It is a shameful fact for the government of Australia, is that some general health services are not at all accessible for the indigenous people of Australia than the non-indigenous people of Australia. There is a strong barrier between the indigenous and non-indigenous people in the land of Australia. Many a times indigenous people does not get access to medical facilities as most of them live in remote areas  where there are not many clinics or hospitals provided by the government (Ewen, Mazel & Knoche, 2012).

Health issues of indigenous people of Australia

Indigenous people of Australia are suffering from various diseases nowadays and they are not getting proper medical support from the clinics and hospitals and this is significantly affecting the rate of deaths of the Aboriginal and Torres islander people. Some worth mentioning diseases are mentioned below which are affecting the lives of indigenous people of Australia.

Cancer:  Interviewing a group of indigenous people from the coastal region of Australia, it has been known that due to lack of proper education they lag behind in day to day life and due to lack of scientific knowledge they get exposed to the carcinogenic elements (Guhin & Wyrtzen, 2013). According to Edward Said, indigenous people of Australia are way more diagnosed with cancer in these days than non-indigenous people of Australia, but in this case it is worth mentioning that indigenous people have more mortality from cancer than regular people of Australia (Parameswaran, et al., 2012).

Kidney issues: In recent times, it has been seen that due to their lifestyle, indigenous people are experiencing more health issues like kidney failure or various other issues related to kidney. It is seen that whenever an indigenous individual gets admitted to hospital, there is a 40% possibility that he is suffering from kidney issues (Ware, 2013). Another thing is worth mentioning in this context, stated by Said, is the lack of proper education among the ATSI people led to their poor knowledge regarding a healthy lifestyle which came out in an interview of the community members of ATSI people of Australia (Bourke et al., 2012).

Cardiovascular issues: It is a matter of fact that the Aboriginal and Torres Islander people experience better cardio-vascular health in respect to the non-indigenous people of Australia. That may be due to the relaxing lifestyle of non-indigenous people of Australia. It is a matter of fact that cardiovascular health hugely depends on the lifestyle, and the indigenous people of Australia are hardworking people and on the other hand the regular civilized people of Australia are living a life full of luxuries and lesser hard work (Jamieson et al., 2012). So, it is evident that the indigenous people will have more mortality against the cardiovascular diseases. In this context, Edward Said stated that the lack of knowledge is driving the ATIS people towards various health issues though their hardworking lifestyle prevented them from suffering cardiovascular diseases (Guhin & Wyrtzen, 2013).

There is a thing worth mentioning in this context, and that is, Australian government back in 2008 deliberately shut down the educational programs of the indigenous people of Australia, claiming that it will affect the teaching of English language in the land of Australia, and since English is the mother tongue of the majority of the population, they decided to call it an end for the educational programs for the indigenous people. People like Edward Said strongly opposed these activities and raised voice against the oppression of the government (Guhin & Wyrtzen, 2013).

What needs to be done to improve health condition of indigenous people

To improve the health condition of the indigenous people of Australia, the government must employ some indigenous people in the health clinics and hospitals. The government must arrange campaigns especially for the indigenous people of Australia and recruiting more culturally competent employees from non-indigenous background for these campaigns. The government officials must look into the matter of expanding health clinics and hospitals in the remote areas of the nation to give service to the indigenous people (Bourke et al., 2012). It is a fact that there are many indigenous people living in rural areas who are not able to reach up to health clinics due to their old age or other issues, the government should look at this issue with priority and provide some transportation for them to reach clinics or hospitals. The last thing worth mentioning in this section is that, the government must lower the costs of the clinics as in many cases the indigenous people cannot afford to bear the cost of their health checkups or treatment due to monetary problems, and government should look into this matter to solve this problem (Parameswaran, et al., 2012).

Conclusion

Thus, to conclude, it can be said that, in today’s world it is a shame that indigenous people of Australia are suffering from health related issues more than the non-indigenous people of Australia, as this is something insulting to humankind. There should be equality for all in a country and when the non-indigenous people are satisfied with the medical support provided by the government the indigenous people have the right to claim it then. It should be considered as a failure of the government if it is seen that the indigenous people are lagging behind in search of medical support. It is highly recommended that the government of Australia should look into this matter and resolve these issues as quickly as possible to restore the faith in mankind.

Reference

Bourke, L., Humphreys, J. S., Wakerman, J., & Taylor, J. (2012). Understanding rural and remote health: a framework for analysis in Australia. Health & Place, 18(3), 496-503.

Ewen, S., Mazel, O., & Knoche, D. (2012). Exposing the hidden curriculum influencing medical education on the health of Indigenous people in Australia and New Zealand: the role of the Critical Reflection Tool. Academic Medicine, 87(2), 200-205.

Guhin, J., & Wyrtzen, J. (2013). The Violences of Knowledge: Edward Said, Sociology, and Post-Orientalist Reflexivity. In Postcolonial Sociology (pp. 231-262). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Jamieson, L. M., Paradies, Y. C., Eades, S., Chong, A., Maple-Brown, L. J., Morris, P. S., ... & Brown, A. (2012). Ten principles relevant to health research among Indigenous Australian populations. Medical Journal of Australia, 197(1), 16-18.

Parameswaran, U., Baird, R. W., Ward, L. M., & Currie, B. J. (2012). Melioidosis at Royal Darwin Hospital in the big 2009–2010 wet season: comparison with the preceding 20 years. The Medical Journal of Australia, 196(5), 345-348.

Ware, V. (2013). Improving the accessibility of health services in urban and regional settings for Indigenous people (Vol. 27). Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.