Bringing together Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander medical trainees from across NSW

The Aboriginal Trainee Doctor's Forum is a collaboration between the Health Education & Training Institute (HETI), the Ministry of Health's Aboriginal Workforce team, and the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association (AIDA).

Formed in 2015, the Forum provides a culturally safe space for engagement with other Aboriginal health professionals and assists trainee doctors to successfully progress through their prevocational and vocational training years. The Forum is held face-to-face to support all NSW Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander medical trainees to ensure every opportunity for success.

All NSW Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander medical trainees are invited to attend the ATDF. The invitation list is initially formed from trainees who used the Aboriginal Medical Workforce Pathway, however all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander medical trainees are welcome. Attendees come from rural, regional and metropolitan hospitals across the state.

Final year medical students who have applied and accepted internship positions in NSW through the Aboriginal Medical Workforce pathway are also invited to attend the second Forum of the year which provides opportunity to meet other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander trainees in advance of starting their internship.

2026 Forum dates

• Friday 27 March
• Friday 30 October

Trainees can speak to their JMO Management Unit or to the office of the Medical Dean who will support attendance.

Assistance is provided to support attendance. For further information contact HETI staff at:

T: 02 9844 6517
E: HETI-ATDF@health.nsw.gov.au

About the artwork

This artwork was commissioned in 2017 by HETI's Medical Portfolio to reflect the unique identity of the Aboriginal Trainee Doctors’ Forum. The artist, Dr Rebecca Davison, is a member of the Forum and a 2017 intern at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney. Rebecca is a  Kurnai, Dharawal and Dunghutti woman and a passionate and prolific artist who has been painting since high school.

The design is based on concentric rings of a tree trunk symbolising growth, knowledge and connectedness to land. A snake is in the centre of the rings, taken from the rod of Asclepius, symbol of healing/medicine. The people sitting in a circle, (attendees at the Forum) each have a different pattern coming into the circle, as they come from different mobs.