Our Stories
Meet FNCS Recipient Brodie Seymour
Brodie Seymour is a Balarnu, Waluwarra and Wangkayujuru man and one of our inaugural First Nations Cancer Scholarship (FNCS) recipients! Brodie grew up on Kalkadoon Country in Mount Isa and had dreams of becoming a doctor.
“[My family] instilled in me the importance of education; a privilege my grandfather was never offered. I was the first in my family to graduate grade 12, and I’ll never forget how proud they were, especially because I had dreams of becoming a doctor.”
After completing a Bachelor of Medical Sciences at Charles Sturt University and a Bachelor of Psychology at Griffith University, Brodie was accepted into Griffith University’s Doctor of Medicine program. He applied for the First Nations Cancer Scholarship to support his final year of studies, where he will be completing an internship and continuing to work towards improving health outcomes, especially for First Nations people. He is passionate about providing accessible, culturally safe medical care for First Nations people on Country.
“I applied to the FNCS because of my personal and family experiences with cancer. Growing up in Mount Isa, the closest major hospital with an oncology service was Townsville, meaning many patients had to rely on telehealth or travel long distances for appointments. While Mount Isa does have an oncology service, its scope is limited.
For our mob, in-person communication and connection to Country are vital. It’s not uncommon to hear stories of Elders struggling to attend appointments or being unable to leave their communities for treatment. This is an injustice that needs to be addressed. We know the statistics; Indigenous Australians, particularly those in rural and remote areas, face significant disparities in cancer outcomes.
We need strong advocates to push for change, and more importantly, we need people willing to go into these communities and provide the care they deserve.
Brodie hopes that when he completes his studies and registration, he will be able to return to his community to address key issues around access and trust in healthcare.
“In Mount Isa, trust in the medical system among Elders is quite low; historic injustices and generational stigma have made seeking medical help a last resort for many.
Being from the community and actively involved, I want to be one of those deadly doctors that our mob feels comfortable seeing; not just another doctor at the hospital. Beyond that, I want to advocate for Indigenous cultural safety practices, ensuring that even if someone isn’t my patient, they still have an ally within the system looking out for them.”
We wish Brodie the best of luck in his final year of study and look forward to seeing what he achieves next.