Gaining a better understanding of the impact of alcohol and drugs on indigenous people was the focus of the Australian National Advisory Council on Alcohol and other Drugs (ANDCAD) recent visit to the Pilbara.
Specialists

A Personal Journey Toward Cultural Understanding
Dr Michele Poppinghaus is a paediatric anaethetist in Newcastle. He came from Australia from Germany via Cornwall in 1995. Dr Poppinghaus completed his anaesthetic training in Newcastle and worked in Darwin, Katherine and Gove in 2004 and 2005. As someone born overseas ‘Mich’ was stunned to see the general lack of understanding of cultural differences and its far reaching consequences.

Interviewing an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Patient
This is the first module in a series of four developed by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) to support health professionals in improving knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health care to achieve better outcomes.

Indigenous Health
A series of podcasts developed by the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists. These resources have been developed to provide an introduction into working with indigenous patients, for further information you are encouraged to consult the rest of the podcast series.

Navigating Communication
The College of Intensive Medicine (CICM) has produced an online course: “Navigating Communication – Communication and Consent Issues with Aboriginal Patients.”
The course was produced after consultation with experts in the field and members of the Aboriginal community.