Helping his community grow and be healthy

Christopher Hagan, a 22-year-old first year medical student from Koorawatha, is the recipient of the 2018 Peter Sharp Scholarship, which supports an Indigenous student studying medicine at ANU.

"I have opportunities here that a lot of people in my family and my community have never had and I feel so lucky and so grateful," he said.

"My dream is to be a rural GP in a country town - hopefully back home in Cowra or Young, and be part of that community to help it grow and be healthy."

The funding program started in 2014 to celebrate Canberra GP, Peter Sharp, whose work and dedication made significant contributions towards improving Indigenous health.

Associate Dean for Rural and Indigenous Health at the ANU Medical School, Professor Amanda Barnard, said that after four years of Peter Sharp funding ANU has expanded the number of Indigenous medical students and graduated several.

"It's fantastic to have graduated a number of Indigenous doctors from ANU," Professor Barnard said.