Heather Kelly

Career Development and Student Support Officer, Indigenous Health Unit
WILDFIRE(Rural health student club) – Academic support

1.  Health career promotion in schools - workforce issue

Heather began her salaried working life as a teacher and discovered that being a careers teacher was the best job in the school.  She combined her interest in health with career education and now works in the Indigenous Health Unit supporting prospective health science students, tutoring and doing research.  Heather also liaises between WILDFIRE (Monash Uni rural health student club) and the School of Rural Health.

Chesters, J., Kelly, H., (2003). 'Evidence based health career promotion.' Proceeding of the 7th National Rural Health Conference, March, NRHA

'It’s not about me, it’s about the community’: culturally relevant health career promotion for Indigenous students in Australia.' 
This project describes a pilot forum conducted as part of a project of National Significance to examine the solutions and barriers for Indigenous student entry to medical and other health science education.  The initial design of the forum, based on other successful non Indigenous health career events, was deemed inappropriate.  When an Indigenous educator intervened, and used a more student focussed approach, the engagement of the Indigenous students increased.  The importance of culturally appropriate health career promotion is a vital part of a complex series of actions needed to increase the recruitment and retention of Indigenous students into health science careers.

'You Can Do It! A DVD inspiring Indigenous youth to consider health careers.'
This project aims to evaluate the effects of the promotional DVD ‘You Can Do It!’ on the aspirations of Australian Indigenous secondary school students.