How this Indigenous mother paved the way for her children to study medicine

Since she was young, Ieesha Nasser knew she wanted to be a doctor.

She grew up learning clinical terminology alongside her mother, who was studying for her medical degree.

"[Mum] would come home and she would have to memorise all these parts of the skull and I would memorise it with her," Ieesha said.

Now, at 18, she is embarking on the enormous journey herself.

She has just begun the first term of a five-year medical degree at Western Sydney University, followed by a two-year residency as a junior doctor.

"I just feel I'm the happiest when I'm helping people in such an impactful way,"

she said.

Last year, her two older brothers graduated together with medical degrees from the same university. They are both now junior doctors working across multiple hospitals.

Jamaal, aged 22, said it was "amazing" to be able to lean on his brother Abdul throughout their studies.

"There are many dark times, many bright times … you smash one exam or you barely pass or may fail another exam … but I think if you have the right motivations and the right purpose behind it you can find a way to push through," he said.

It was watching his grandmother suffer from an aneurysm that motivated Jamaal to want to make change in the industry.

"She made it through … if she had an Indigenous doctor that she knew, that she could turn to at the time to help her, she may have got help sooner," he said.

Jamaal has hopes of specialising in surgery after noticing a gap in the number of Indigenous surgeons, and a lack of Indigenous doctors in the medical profession overall.

Importance of Indigenous doctors and clinicians

According to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency's Medical Board of Australia registrant data, there were 969 medical practitioners who identified as First Nations as of December 31, 2025.

At least 386 were in New South Wales.

The figure is far from population parity, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander medical practitioners making up 0.6 per cent of all registered medical practitioners in Australia.

The low number has been a motivational factor for 24-year-old Abdul too.

"If we're going to the 70s and 80s, there's no such thing as an Indigenous doctor … so we're definitely in new territory,"

he said.

All three siblings are following in the footsteps of their mother Tatum Maybir. The 45-year-old entered medicine after raising her six children.

She worked for two years in the public hospital system before entering general practice training at the Tharawal Aboriginal Medical Service in south-western Sydney.

"I feel like it's more of a focus on providing holistic health care and looking beyond just what you see in front of you … [like] social circumstances, family circumstances," she said.

"Sometimes I might have a consult in here and I have eight members of the same family, but they all want to be in here … I thrive in that environment because I've also lived those experiences."

The Dharawal and Wiradjuri woman grew up witnessing family members experience difficult health situations and, at times, not being able to navigate the health system.

"Not having the support during those times was incredibly difficult but also something that really inspired me," Dr Maybir said.

"It's so important that Indigenous doctors and clinicians are in these positions because it shows to the rest of Australia, and other Indigenous peoples, that this is a place where we can be."

Following in mother's footsteps

Jamaal said his mother had been a huge inspiration to all his siblings.

"It's something that I hope to live up to one day," he said.

The family credits a lot of their success to the Badanami Centre, an Indigenous pathway program supporting students at Western Sydney University.

Wiradjuri woman Kylie Bell works closely alongside students at the centre's Campbelltown campus as the student success officer.

"It is their home away from home and the relationships and the people they meet, you do become family, and this space is so, so important to them," she said.

"To watch the journey of Tatum as well as the boys and now Ieesha … it's why I love my job so much."

Ms Bell said it was crucial to provide more higher education opportunities to Indigenous people and "show the younger generation that it is possible".

Ieesha is hopeful to enter surgery too, but before specialising in anything she wants to contribute to her community.

"I would like to maybe work in some Indigenous clinics first because I would like to give some of my degree back to my community and where I come from," she said.

Dr Maybir said watching her kids want to give back felt like the ultimate success.

"It has made me so, so proud and I think seeing them in this space, belonging in this space, owning this space and believing that they're meant to be there is empowering."