Rate My Professor Karen Adams

Professor Karen Adams, a Wiradjuri woman, is Professor in Gukwonderuk Indigenous Health Workforce and Director of the Gukwonderuk Indigenous engagement unit within Monash University’s Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. She holds a Bachelor of Health Science, a Master of Applied Epidemiology, and a PhD focused on social network analysis and child health. Her career began in community education within Aboriginal Community Controlled organisations, leading to her current leadership in Indigenous health initiatives. Adams’ research specializations include increasing the Indigenous health workforce, educating healthcare professionals for culturally safe and respectful engagement with Indigenous patients, and advancing anti-racist practices in healthcare. She leads the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Indigenous Framework, addressing racism, implicit bias, and inequitable health access through partnerships, cultural competency strategies, and welcoming environments compliant with National Indigenous Safety and Quality Standards.

Under Adams’ direction, Indigenous student enrolments in the faculty rose from 55 in 2015 to 103 in 2019, an 87% increase. She developed the evidence-based Allies in Indigenous Health curriculum, yielding mean student satisfaction of 4.2 out of 5 and improvements in attitudes, confidence, knowledge, and critical thinking. Key projects encompass the Growing Indigenous Graduates Program, ADHD research in Indigenous Australian children using the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children, cognitive skill development via digital training, and objective structured clinical exams for internationally qualified nurses. Her 82 research outputs include “Truth-telling is required for health equity for Aboriginal peoples: A qualitative study” (2025, International Journal of Nursing Studies), “Aboriginal plant foods policy in Australia: a critical discourse analysis” (2025, Critical Policy Studies), “Yarning about e-mental health tools: First Nations Australian youth perspectives of well-being and e-health” (2024, AlterNative), and “Colonial shapeshifting: Re-remembering medical education’s burden on Indigenous peoples” (2023, Medical Education). Adams received the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion and the Vice-Chancellor’s Diversity and Inclusion Award in 2018 for the NUR1013 Teaching Team. She mentors Indigenous researchers, convenes the Indigenous Health Graduate Research Circle, and serves as Senior Editor for First Nations Health and Wellbeing.