AIDA commits to supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander medical students. One of our core missions is to foster the growth of the Indigenous medical workforce through increasing collegiate support and cultural safety within the university environment for Indigenous medical students. We advocate for best practice in developing approaches to grow the Indigenous medical workforce through the enrolment, retention and graduation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander medical students.
In 2017 AIDA released a policy paper on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Medical Student Retention. This paper presents key cases of the efforts made by universities to increase student retention, including cultural safety in the academy. In 2016 AIDA published its Best Practice in Student Support for Indigenous Medical Students policy statement which supports continued focus in this area. Healthy Futures: defining best practice in the recruitment and retention of Indigenous medical students is a report released by AIDA in 2005 that investigates robust strategies for the recruitment, retention and graduation of Indigenous doctors in medicine programs across Australia.
We believe cultural safety is an integral part of increasing the numbers within and support for the Indigenous medical workforce. In the position paper Cultural Safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Doctors, Medical Students and Patients the process is applied to institutions and interactions that an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander doctor, medical student or patient may experience.
