Healing on country always the plan for Pilbara doctor
When Dr Adriane Houghton’s great-grandfather Mathias (Matt) Dann was told his children couldn’t attend school in the early 1940s because they were Aboriginal, he and a group of friends, along with the Presentation Sisters, went ahead and helped to build St Cecilia’s Primary School for Aboriginal children in Port Hedland.
It’s this determination that the newly appointed Pilbara doctor reflected on when she considered her own journey from quitting high school, to eventually graduating in medicine, and returning last year to country as a doctor at Hedland Health Campus.
“He always said education was the way out,” Dr Houghton told The West Australian.
Adriane is a Ngarluma, Nyikina, Nyiyaparli, Nyul Nyul and Yindijibarndi woman who was born on Kariyarra country (Port Hedland).
Graduating from the University of Western Australia as one of five Aboriginal medical graduates in 2018, Adriane commenced as District Medical Officer at the Hedland Health Campus in March in 2022, fulfilling her goal of being able to practise medicine in her own community.
“When I entered medical school, my plan was always to come back to the Pilbara, give back to my community and raise my children here,” she explained.
“I love working with the local community and treating people I’ve grown up with. I love being around family, friends and working with a great team.”
Adriane credited her parents, Lorraine and Paul McGowan, as her inspiration and role models.
“Mum is a registered nurse and midwife and studied while I was growing up,” Adriane said.
“Both my parents supported me to follow my dreams.
“Coming back home to Hedland has meant a rare opportunity to now work with my mother, as well as my sister Lilly Houghton, who is a registered nurse, and my cousin Teagane Ramirez, soon to be an enrolled nurse.”
While becoming a doctor was always at the back of Adriane’s mind, she didn’t follow a traditional pathway. After a break from her high school studies, she was accepted into the University of Western Australia’s Aboriginal Orientation Course and later worked in the resources sector while raising her two children.
Adriane’s ultimate goal is to become a GP obstetrician by the end of 2023, enabling her to provide an even greater range of culturally safe care to local families.
“I’m currently finalising the last requirements of my advanced Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (DRANZCOG) training and am currently undertaking a six-month placement with Mawarnkarra Health Service in Ieramugadu (Roebourne) – where my grandfather and mother were born – to complete my GP requirements,” Adriane said.