Wurru Wurru Health Unit
Welcome to the Wurru Wurru Health Unit
The Wurru Wurru Health Unit acknowledges and pays respect to the Traditional Custodians of the lands, waterways and skies on which the University campuses and clinical schools are located. This includes the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung, Boon Wurrung, Dja Dja Wurrung, Wadawurrung and Taungurung of the Kulin Nation, as well as the Yorta-Yorta Nation.
We extend respects to the Elders and Ancestors of these Nations and recognise the continuation of cultural, spiritual and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (respectfully referred to as First Nations).
The Wurru Wurru Health Unit aims to advance the health of First Nations peoples to reduce inequity and create positive change. Our teaching and research is centred on the holistic view of health of First Nations peoples to promote wellbeing, underpinned by the principles of self-determination.
Welcome
The Wurru Wurru Health Unit (WWH) is a First Nations health teaching and research team dedicated to high-quality, community-led and culturally informed work. The WWH is situated in the Department of Medical Education as part of the Melbourne Medical School. The WWH is dedicated to designing and delivering First Nations health, public health, and preventative medicine curriculum to health professions students across the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences (MDHS) at the University of Melbourne. The team are also passionate about qualitative and mixed methods research to ensure that all curriculum is informed by local First Nations communities and Elders of the Nations across Naarm (Melbourne) and Victoria.
The WWH is comprised of First Nations academics; Senior Lecturer and Director of the team Dr Ngaree Blow, Senior Lecturer Madelyne Hudson-Buhagiar, Lecturer Nicolle Maganga, as well as First Nations professional staff member Avanah Brettschneider (parental leave cover Carly Andersson). In addition, the WWH supports 20 casual Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander tutors and supports a number of medical and health professions students in completing research as part of their degree.
Contact Us
Wurru Wurru Health Unit
Department of Medical Education | Melbourne Medical School | The University of Melbourne
E: firstnationshealth-md@unimelb.edu.au
Social media: Instagram - @wurruwurru.health
The Wurru Wurru Health Unit designs and teaches First Nations health curriculum across all four years of the Doctor of Medicine (MD); including delivering discovery topics and cultural immersion programs such as Billibellary’s Walk, Flat’s Walk, Bunjilaka and Kaiela Arts program as well as the On Country for Health discovery topic. Additionally, we arrange placement opportunities to allow for student exposure to First Nations peoples’ in a health environment.
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The Wurru Wurru health model is used as a teaching tool for health professional students to understand the complexity of all the social determinates of health and the influences biologically and across all levels of society including systemic influences. This model was created in collaboration with local First Nations Elders and community members, as well both First Nations and non-Indigenous staff and students both current and alumni from The University of Melbourne.
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Billibellary's Walk
The Wurru Wurru Health Unit provide tutor guides to support health professional students through their experience of the Billibellary’s walk on the Parkville Campus of the University of Melbourne in Naarm (Melbourne).
Billibellary's Walk is named after the Ngurungaeta, or clan head, of the Wurundjeri people at the time of Melbourne’s settlement. The walk is a cultural interpretation of the University’s Parkville campus landscape.
For more information please click here
Flat’s Walk
The Flats Walk is a significant cultural area located on the floodplain between Shepparton and Mooroopna. Students completing the Doctor of Medicine as part of the Rural Clinical School are guided by local Elders and community members along the Flat’s Walk to learn more about the history of Yorta Yorta people and their ongoing resistance and resilience.
Bunjilaka
Cultural Immersion is described as “actively integrating into an unfamiliar community, interacting with local people, and seeking to understand the way others live in that community by being there and engaging in daily life activities.” (1) The diversity and geographical locations of communities around Victoria means it can be difficult to engage directly with each community. To address this, whilst recognising the importance of respecting this diversity, the First Nations health team at the University of Melbourne alongside the Bunjilaka team at the Melbourne Museum created a full-day immersive experience focused on the First Peoples exhibition.
Find out more here
Shepparton Arts Museum (SAM) and Kaiela Arts
Students engage in a Cultural Immersion experience on Yorta Yorta Country exploring the Shepparton Arts Museum and Kaiela Arts and being guided along the Flat’s Walk. On Day 2 of the Cultural Immersion program, students will engage in group-based discussions and other cultural activities to unpack ideas, interrogate previous understandings of history, and engage in a supportive conversation about our shared history and its impacts on health outcomes.
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On Country 4 Health
On Country 4 Health is the Discovery 2 subject delivered by the Wurru Wurru Health Unit in close collaboration with the Yorta Yorta community and guided by local Elders, this cultural immersion program offers students a unique opportunity to engage deeply with First Nations knowledge systems, culture, and health.
Set on Yorta Yorta Country in regional Victoria, the program supports students to explore First Nations health beyond the classroom — through hands-on, place-based learning embedded in community. The students have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in a First Nations community exploring understandings of First Nations health through engaging with key cultural sites, recognising local histories, participating in clinical placements and cultural activities. The students are able to enhance their understanding of what truly influences health outcomes in First Nations communities and what do community believe is the answer.
During the program, students participate in:
- Welcome to Country and smoking ceremonies led by Cultural Leaders and Elders
- Cultural site visits and walking tours, including areas of historical and cultural significance to the Yorta Yorta people
- Interactive cultural workshops, such as traditional craft-making and bush knowledge sharing
- Yarning circles with community members, Elders, and Aboriginal health workers
- Clinical placements and visits to local Aboriginal Community Clinical placements and visits to local Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) Controlled Organisations (ACCOs)
This subject offers a powerful, experiential learning opportunity that connects students with the strengths, resilience, and self-determination of First Nations communities. It strengthens students’ cultural awareness and challenges them to reflect on their role in delivering culturally safe and responsive healthcare.
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Rainbow Mob Health
This four-week discovery topic offers a foundational exploration of how culture, sex, sexuality, gender, and health intersect. There are few opportunities for health professionals in training to learn about delivering culturally safe care to LGBTIQA+ people, particularly in the context of First Nations communities. This subject provides a unique opportunity to focus on the intersection of these identities and health, with particular attention to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer, Asexual, Sistagirl, Brothaboy, and other sexually or gender diverse people within First Nations communities—collectively referred to in this topic as the Rainbow Mob.
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The Ways of Knowing Program is an Interprofessional Education program run between the WWH unit and the Centre for Collaborative Practice. The aim of the ‘Ways of Knowing’ interprofessional curriculum activity is to bring students together from Audiology, Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing , Optometry, Physiotherapy, Psychology, Population and Global Health, Social Work and Speech Pathology to engage with multiple knowledges and ways of knowing. This will be achieved by engaging with a series of 4 nested activities where students will have the opportunity to learn from, with and about students from other disciplines exploring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing, cultural safety and collaborative practice. The 4 learning activities will require students to critically reflect upon their own knowledges of health, biases and assumptions and aims to develop essential behaviours, values and attitudes required for collaborative and cultural safety practice.
The Wurru Wurru Health unit undertakes various research projects related to First Nations Health teaching and learning and pedagogy, community engagement and relationship building between future health practitioners and local First Nations community.