As a child, Kelvin Kong would hover over his mother's shoulder as she dressed wounds and removed stitches for their large extended family.
Now Dr Kong, 28, a surgeon
registrar at Westmead Hospital, is set to become Australia's first Aboriginal surgeon.
Next month, he begins a four-year advanced training program, where he will specialise in ear, nose and throat surgery. He eventually hopes to practise in rural areas, working to
improve the appalling rate of ear disease in indigenous communities.
The Australian Indigenous Doctors' Association executive officer, Ngiare Brown, said there were about 50 indigenous doctors in Australia, with another 60 to 70 medical students.
Dr Brown said Dr Kong was the first to be accepted into the rigorous and highly competitive surgical training program.
"He's an extraordinary role model," she said. "He is a great example of what we can achieve."
Dr Kong says he is merely following in the footsteps of his talented family. His mother and mentor, Grace Kong, is a registered nurse who grew up as the eldest of 12 children and taught herself to read and write. His older sister Marilyn, 30, begins training next month to become Australia's first indigenous obstetrician, and her twin Marlene is studying to become a GP.
Kelvin and Marilyn will train at John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle.
"I looked up to Mum a lot when I was growing up," Dr Kong said.
"She was always treating people because they would come around to our place rather than go to hospital. My sisters and I would fight over who was the best assistant."
The young Kelvin noticed that many of his relatives would die in their 50s and 60s, while other people's grandparents would live into their 80s. He also noted that his community suffered more from ear infections, heart disease, diabetes and stroke.
"I thought, 'Hang on, why is this only happening to me and my family?'," he said.
Growing up in Nelson Bay among his grandfather's people, the Worimi, he encountered prejudice. Being one of the school's best rugby players did not shield him from playground jibes.
"I came home crying because I was teased so much. I sat in the bath scrubbing my skin because I didn't want to be black," he said.
"As an indigenous person growing up, our options were very limited. Our sports people are fantastic but there were not many professional role models. But my mother pulled me aside many times and said, 'You can do anything you want'."
Dr Kong does not expect he will change the state of indigenous health, saying he is "just a drop in the ocean".
"I am where I am because of my community, my ancestors and my mother, and all the work they did, and I feel obligated," he said.
"But more than anything, I want to be a good surgeon."