In Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, the story of health is inseparable from the story of culture, community, and Country. No surgeon working in a modern hospital can ignore this truth. And no health system can genuinely claim to serve its people without investing in Indigenous leadership — not as an abstract ideal, but as a practical, lived reality.

That’s why the Ngarra Grant, offered through the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS), stands out as one of the most meaningful initiatives in our profession. It isn’t a ceremonial gesture or a token bursary. It’s a targeted investment in the next generation of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, and Māori surgical trainees, supporting them at the exact moment when the pressures of training, research, and community responsibility can be most intense.

For anyone unfamiliar with the grant, or uncertain why it matters, here’s a closer look — and why I believe it deserves far more visibility in the surgical community and beyond.

What Is the Ngarra Grant?

The Ngarra Grant is part of the RACS Indigenous Health Strategy and is designed to support Indigenous medical graduates pursuing a surgical career. The grant recognises that early-career surgeons often face inequitable structural hurdles: financial pressures, a lack of representation, and the challenge of balancing cultural obligations with demanding clinical workloads.

The grant can support activities such as:

• Early surgical exposure

• Clinical placements

• Research or scholarly projects

• Travel required for training, conferences, or mentorship

• Professional development that strengthens long-term career progression

It provides practical, flexible support — exactly the type that enables talented trainees to keep moving forward rather than diverting into other specialties or stepping away from training altogether.

Why This Matters for Our Profession

Healthcare inequity is not a distant policy debate; it shows up every day in emergency departments, operating theatres, outpatient clinics, and rural hospitals. Indigenous communities across Australia and Aotearoa experience worse health outcomes, lower life expectancy, and delayed access to specialist care — including surgery.

One of the most effective ways to begin addressing these inequities is to increase the number of Indigenous surgeons and surgical leaders, ensuring that culturally informed care is embedded in practice, communication barriers are reduced, trust is strengthened, and communities see themselves reflected in the profession. Representation changes outcomes. Not abstractly, but statistically and consistently.

Grants like Ngarra don’t just help create diversity; they help create systems that work better for everyone.

The Human Side: Careers Shaped, Communities Strengthened

Behind every grant recipient is a story that doesn’t make it into the application form:

the family supporting them, the community cheering them on, the mentors walking with them, and the internal pressure to succeed not just for themselves but for the people they represent.

Surgery is demanding. It asks everything of a trainee — time, energy, emotional resilience, and clinical precision. For Indigenous trainees who carry cultural responsibilities on top of this, the load can be heavier and lonelier.

The Ngarra Grant recognises that reality with humility and practicality. It says: You belong in this profession. Your path matters. We will help clear it.

That message, delivered early in a surgeon’s training, can be transformative.

How the Grant Fits Into a Larger Vision

RACS’ Indigenous Health Strategy is built on partnerships — with communities, Elders, trainees, and medical colleges — and on a commitment to creating culturally safe surgical environments.

The Ngarra Grant is not standalone; it sits within a broader effort that includes:

• increasing Indigenous representation across all training pathways

• strengthening cultural competency for non-Indigenous surgeons

• supporting Indigenous-led research

• building long-term relationships with communities and health organisations

It is one tool in a larger movement toward genuine equity.

Why I’m Highlighting It Here

As someone who has worked in surgical units for decades, I’ve seen firsthand how trust — or the lack of it — shapes outcomes. Not just in the operating theatre, but in every corridor conversation, every pre-op discussion, every moment when vulnerability meets expertise.

In my writing and my clinical work, one theme keeps resurfacing:

Medicine is at its best when every community has a seat at the table — and when emerging surgeons are supported early enough to build careers that last.

The Ngarra Grant embodies that principle. It’s not just financial support; it’s a statement about the kind of profession we want to be.

Visit Grant Donation Form