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AMSA’s submission on the future of scholarships for rural students and rural placement

Medicine

The Australian Medical Students’ Assciation (AMSA) submission to the Health Workforce Scholarship Program (HWSP) Consultation emphasizes that rural recruitment and retention is more successful in people who are from a rural background or have had a positive rural experience during their study. Therefore, AMSA suggests that proposed scholarships should:

  • Support rural-background students in ongoing costs to study medicine; and/or
  • Support any student to undertake rural clinical placements.

Proposal 1.  Rural Students Support Scholarship

AMSA proposed that this scholarship is for Australian undergraduate or postgraduate medical degree students who must meet the following outlined criteria:

  • Eligibility — coming from a rural background, have an interest to pursue a career in rural Australia, and not in receipt of any other scholarships totalling over $7,000.
  • Assessment — have a rural residency and rural identity, commit to future rural practice, and assessed on taxable income over the previous 2 financial years and production of income for upcoming financial years.
  • Student Obligations — undertake rural activities with the guidance of a rural doctor as mentor, maintain membership of Rural Health Club in their university and engage in extra-curricular rural health activities

Proposal 2.  Rural Placement Support Scholarship

AMSA proposed that this scholarship is for Australian undergraduate or postgraduate medical degree students who want to pursue a rural or remote placement. The criteria are outlined as follows:

  • Eligibility — have an interest to pursue a career in rural Australia, undertake a placement outside the local university’s footprint, and not in receipt of any other scholarship or funding for the same placement.
  • Assessment — have a rural background (first preference) or metropolitan students who are interested in a career in rural Australia, become member of Rural Health Club to display commitment to rural communities and rural health, and asked to describe what they hope to gain from the placement.
  • Student Obligations — Complete a placement in rural or remote Australia (RA2-5) (MMM2-7), submit a 500-1000 word report on the experience following completion of the placement, and submit receipts for travel, accommodation and living costs while on the placement up to the value of the scholarship.

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