"I was born in India and my family moved to Brisbane when I was still in primary school," Ish told SBS Punjabi.
"I will finish my bachelors degree in optometry from Deakin University in Geelong in March and will commence Masters thereafter."
"Ever since I moved to Australia, during my schooling in Brisbane, I learned about the gaps in Indigenous and non Indigenous health. I was motivated to work in the health sector so that I could serve the community and my focus was on Indigenous health specifically."
This is what motivated him to apply for a scholarship being offered by the Fred Hollows Foundation (FHF), in partnership with the Institute of Urban Indigenous Health(IUIH), which is based in Brisbane.
Ish explained, "The IUIH is a comprehensive primary health care service provider in South East Queensland (SEQ). They have 18 multidisciplinary clinics in the SEQ region to provide care for more than 64000 Indigenous Australians living in that region. It is aimed at providing quality health services for Indigenous Australians by Indigenous Australians to not only help close the gap in life expectancy but also improving education, jobs and stronger communities."
Ish Pratap Singh Minhas and Kate Pecar of Deakin University, who have both been offered this special scholarship Source: Supplied
The Fred Hollows Foundation (FHF) was established in the name of noted ophthalmologist Fred Hollows who had an interest in improving eye health in underprivileged communities. He also went to many other countries on behalf of WHO to provide affordable treatment.
"The foundation now continues by his principles to end preventable blindness. Indigenous Australians are still at a greater risk for blindness and many other systemic diseases," said Ish.
He added, "The IUIH and FHF together opened a work placement at the IUIH and scholarship for Indigenous optometry students. This would allow Indigenous students to gain more knowledge and experience about Indigenous health and serve their community by providing eye care."
"Unfortunately, in 2017 there were no Indigenous students in optometry or did not apply for this scholarship."
"So this year, the scholarship was offered to Kate Pecar and myself. Kate is in the final year of her optometry degree at Deakin and I am at the end of my bachelors degree now, getting ready to commence my Masters in March this year."
Ish Pratap Singh Minhas with SBS Punjabi's Manpreet K Singh, at our Melbourne studios Source: SBS Punjabi
"So I will be undertaking 30 days of work placement at the various IUIH clinics in Brisbane and also an outreach trip to Mt Isa for a week."
"The scholarship provides $5000 to attend conferences focused on Indigenous health. This will allow me to learn more about the Indigenous health and also their culture so that in future as an optometrist I will be able provide better personalised care for them."
"It will be good experience to work in the clinics where I will be able to engage with and learn from the professionals in Indigenous eye care."
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