Dharawal woman Meg Torpey says her identity and family history drive her passion and give her direction for her medical career.
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"My nan had my mum in 1952 at the Royal Women's hospital in Grattan Street in Carlton," the third-year medical student said.
"My mum was adopted and the reason for adoption on my mum's birth certificate is 'unmarried mother, woman of colour'.
"It's why I am who I am.
"It's certainly why I'm involved in health care now and, by no mistake, my first appointment as a paid employee was at the Royal Women's hospital as an Aboriginal health liaison officer in the Koori maternity services."
Ms Torpey said she deliberately went back to "the scene of the crime" to support Indigenous women to have culturally appropriate births, to heal her own intergeneration trauma and that of others.
"My nan signed this with an X," she said.
"She knew that she had to give up my mum, the birth was extremely traumatic and she was by herself. The details are very graphic."
Ms Torpey said separation and removal from family, like that in her personal story, was common in Indigenous family histories.
"Decades later you've still got children being removed; forced adoption, closed adoption, welfare removal," she said.
"This still happens now. We have a second wave of removal, call it what you will, but we do."
Ms Torpey said her family was privileged to be able to "slowly and painstakingly" trace back through what had happened and reconnect mother and daughter 30 years later.
Ms Torpey said she put her hand up immediately to study at UNSW's Albury rural clinic.
"Because of who I am," she said.
"This is just such a great setting for me and there's so much need to support Indigenous families and clients here.
"I'm committed to working and training in regional and remote settings, and I've just fallen in love with Albury.
"I also see the importance of being an Aboriginal student in Aboriginal communities down here and hope that in my student capacity I can still play a role in advocating for Aboriginal families in the health care setting."
She said she was thankful for the scholarship, beyond the financial pressure it would ease.
"That people want to support an Indigenous woman's journey into medicine full stop; that is just the biggest honour," she said. "What it means to me is that I hold a spot here; that I'm welcomed and I'm supported."
She said she wanted to hold space for future Indigenous mature age women in medicine.
If I can pave the way for anyone else to perhaps think about a career in medicine that would just be such an exciting outcome, for not only me, but everyone else who could benefit from Indigenous women being part of health care.
- Meg Torpey
"If I can pave the way for anyone else to perhaps think about a career in medicine that would just be such an exciting outcome, for not only me, but everyone else who could benefit from Indigenous women being part of health care," she said.
TWENTY-TWO year old medical student and former Murray High schooler Narayan Khanal also received the scholarship.
He said he wanted to pursue a medical career in rural and regional settings as a result of his own life experiences.
"I was actually born in a Bhutanese refugee camp under great hardships," he said.
Mr Khanal's parents lived in Bhutan their whole lives until they were forced to flee to the refugee camp in Nepal.
"I lived there for about 12 years before coming to Australia on a humanitarian visa," he said.
"Growing up I witnessed hundreds of people, not just my friends and family members, but hundreds of people die from minor preventable conditions, simply because there was no medical infrastructure in place."
Mr Khanal said when his family settled in Albury in 2009 his life changed and he expected his family's health to improve.
"I realised that despite coming to Australia there was a massive gap in health in rural and regional areas compared to metropolitan cities," he said.
"Even my mum who has had many health conditions had to travel to Melbourne frequently for minor procedures.
"That kind of was a burden for us, because for a family that had recently settled in Australia, organising the transport and things like that was a challenge.
"Having more services for small regional and rural towns would make a significant difference to people there and I would like to contribute."
The University of Wollongong student said his studies were challenging.
"But it's just a matter of telling myself that I'm here for a reason," he said.
Mr Khanal said the scholarship would make a big difference to his education.
"I'm greatly appreciative of the Rotary Club of Albury-Hume," he said.
Mr Khanal plans to return to Albury upon completion of his studies.
"My entire family and all my friends live in the Albury and Wodonga region," he said.
"The likely place that I'll stay is there to serve in that community.
"I look forward to that."
Mr Khanal said he wanted to repay the community that had welcomed him when his family first arrived in Australia.
"I had wonderful volunteers who helped me right at the start," he said.
"Obviously when I came to Australia I couldn't speak a word of English language, to be honest, I still struggle.
"But those volunteers made a significant difference to my family and me and it's only fair that I give back to those people who helped me get to where I am today."
The scholarship is named in honour of Albury-Hume Rotary Club past president the late Dr John McDonald, who played an instrumental role in initiating the idea of helping medical students from our region who intend to practice in regional NSW.
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