Growing our own - from trainee to qualified mental health clinician

About Quinton

Growing up in the south side of Canberra Quinton, a Wiradjuri man, never really thought he would go to university.

His career started in the hospitality industry and for four years he worked hard but he always had a nagging feeling he should be working more closely with people. 

Initially planning a career change in social or youth work, when his partner sent him the advertisement for the Djirrurwang Program mental health traineeship, it piqued his interest.

“The three-year commitment had me questioning myself,” Quinton says. “I just didn’t know if I could do it. It seemed a big jump from hospitality and no-one in my family had ever gone to university before.”

The Bachelor of Health Science (Mental Health) run by Charles Sturt University is the preferred degree for the NSW Health Aboriginal Mental Health Workforce. Students complete workplace training and clinical placements within the Mental Health Service at SNSWLHD throughout their degree. 

“The course was great. There was a big emphasis on clinical skills including how to conduct assessments and interviews,” Quinton says. “I gained so much knowledge – both from lecturers at university and from the supportive colleagues in Community Mental Health.”

Quinton was encouraged to make the jump to healthcare because he’d seen family and friends affected by mental health concerns and understood some of the additional challenges Aboriginal consumers face accessing mental healthcare. 

“It’s really important to have Aboriginal clinicians working with Aboriginal consumers,” Quinton says.
Quinton completed his traineeship at Queanbeyan Community Mental Health, before transitioning to Eurobodalla where he now lives with his partner.

“It’s nice to live by the beach,” he says. “I’m here for the long haul and I’m only two hours from family in Canberra.”
 

Read about Jaylee