Joel Wenitong, Medical Student: Future chopper doctor
Joel Wenitong
For Joel Wenitong, working in health is a family thing and now, he says: “health is my future.”
Joel’s grandmother was one of the first Aboriginal Health Workers and his father is prominent doctor Mark Wenitong, the former head of the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association.
Actually, Joel, who is studying for his medical degree at the University of Newcastle, didn’t want to do medicine in the beginning. He took up teaching straight after school – only to find that “the kids I most liked working with were the ones who were too sick to be at school.
“Education is important, but your health is something else,” he says.
“When I’ve finished my degree, my aim is to put myself out of a job. I want people to be well – not sick. And even though there are big challenges in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, there are big wins to be achieved as well – for example, getting rid of trachoma.
“Really, my dream is to be a chopper doctor. I’d fly off to all these really remote places and work. I love working at the grassroots in the communities where you are not just churning people over, but building real relationships and being part of the community.”
For anyone wanting to pursue a career in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, Joel says: “For me, the important thing is wanting to do it. It’s hard, but wanting it is the key.”
Of Kabi Kabi descent from south east Queensland, Joel is best known through his Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander hip hop band Last Kinection, which won a Deadly Award in 2009, and has toured with topline artists, including Public Enemy.
“I love going out to rural and remote areas, and that’s where I’ll end up. My band runs music workshops in places like Maningrida, Roeburn, and all up through Queensland and New South Wales. Usually a community will be focusing on a particular issue. Sometimes it will be substance abuse, or maybe assault. The elders will teach the young fellas and we will do a music workshop and teach them how to weave words into music.
“There’s not always a physical cause for an illness. Sometimes it’s a mental or emotional. Talking and music help a lot.”
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