AIDA Conference 2025: Evoking Sovereignty, Honouring Country

While AMEE provided a global outlook, the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association (AIDA) 2025 conference grounded us in the vital local context of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. Held on the traditional lands of the Gadigal peoples of the Eora Nation in Sydney, the conference theme was Evoking Sovereignty, Honouring Country & Nurturing Community.

Our team joined incredible First Nations leaders and doctors gathering together from various medical disciplines, along with First Nations medical students studying across the country. The resounding call to action was clear: we must work towards genuine Indigenous sovereignty within healthcare and healthcare systems.

Our First Nations Health Lead, Dr. Narawi Foley Boscott, took the stage in the high-energy Quick & Deadly session, a strict format allowing just 20 seconds per slide for 20 slides. Dr. Foley Boscott presented passionately on her experiences within specialist training and her work alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Hospital Liaison Officers (HLOs) to educate PGY1 doctors.

Key takeaways from her presentation included:

  • The Value of HLOs: Emphasising the incredible knowledge resource HLOs provide. Junior doctors have a unique opportunity to learn about First Nations perspectives on health directly from HLOs, improving communication and cultural safety.

  • Broadening Career Horizons: Dr. Foley Boscott advocated for Indigenous doctors to forge careers that are not strictly confined to existing specialty training structures. She championed incorporating First Nations knowledge systems to create a future where all Indigenous people thrive.

The event culminated in a spectacular Gala Dinner at Luna Park. A highlight was witnessing Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander doctors receiving their painted stethoscopes, a rite of passage for those graduating medical school or completing fellowship training.

It was an inspiring glimpse into the future for NewMed. We look forward to the day our own Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander medical students reach this milestone, having their achievements recognised by AIDA and holding their own painted stethoscopes.

AMEE 2025: Global Perspectives on Medical Education

The International Association for Health Professionals Education in Europe (AMEE) annual conference is always a highlight on the calendar. In September, Dr Natasha Yates and A/Prof. Susan Hawken represented NewMed at the massive gathering in Barcelona, which saw 3,386 in person delegates and over 500 online participants from 116 countries.

Beyond the ‘Eat-working’ (networking over paella!), the overarching sentiment from our delegates was clear: NewMed is ahead of the game. Colleagues from around the world were supportive and interested in our approach, particularly our curriculum design and assessment strategies.

One of the most encouraging takeaways was the discussion around Programmatic Assessment. Many institutions are struggling to retrofit these frameworks into legacy curricula. By design, NewMed has developed a complete programmatic assessment.

Susan also highlighted that we are on the right track regarding simulation fidelity. The conference reinforced that low tech can be incredibly effective if the functional task alignment is correct, focusing on the critical steps and goals rather than just expensive hardware. A key shift in language and practice was also noted: we must work with Simulated Patients (SPs), ensuring we capture the voices of vulnerable patient groups in case design.

Natasha gained an important insight around the shift from Cultural Competence to Cultural Intelligence (CQ). CQ is the capability to work well with other cultures, adapting behaviour and communication to navigate diverse contexts.

Both Natasha and Susan identified Adaptive Expertise (AE) and Productive Failure as critical concepts. These focus on reframing failure not as a deficit, but as a catalyst for growth.

Cultivating AE requires a learning process that challenges assumptions and rewards experimentation. While this can be challenging – requiring careful scaffolding and psychological safety, it promotes deeper conceptual understanding and resilience. The goal is to shift focus from pure performance to understanding.

The conference provided creative ideas for supporting student wellbeing and identity, which our team is keen to explore:

  • Meme Based Reflection: An innovative example from Taiwan showed how junior doctors used social memes to express frustrations with hierarchy and powerlessness, turning venting into a structured reflective curriculum.

  • Normalising Imposter Syndrome: Conducting anonymous polls early in the degree to help students realise they aren’t alone in feeling they don’t deserve to be here.

  • Strengths Based Remediation: Moving away from deficit based remediation models that cause stigma.

AI remains a dominant topic. Plenary speaker Prof. Adam Rodman (Google AI researcher) emphasised that while AI is now normal technology, the collaboration between humans and AI is tricky. A major risk is cognitive deskilling, where students rely too heavily on the tool. The challenge for educators is to design learning that protects student cognition and improves clinical reasoning alongside AI tools.

Finally, a standout workshop focused on transforming bystanders into upstanders. The session provided practical ‘train the trainer’ tools on how to stand up to microaggressions in clinical and educational settings, resources our team plans to bring back to NewMed for both staff and students.