Applicants must be Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. For the purposes of this application, an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander is someone who is of Australian Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent, or who identifies as an Australian Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and is accepted as such by the community in which he or she lives or has lived. Applicants will be asked to provide a letter from an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community organisation supporting their claim.
Applicants must be eligible for ABSTUDY. A scholarship will not be awarded to an applicant who already holds any other scholarship. To be eligible, the applicant must be currently enrolled at an Australian Medical School and completing at least their first year of medicine.
Scholarship will be awarded on the recommendation of an advisory committee appointed by the Board of Trustees. Selection of scholarship recipients will be based on:
- Satisfactory academic performance judged on results achieved;
- Reports from referees familiar with the applicants' work and suitability for a career in medicine;
- A brief statement produced by the applicant of their aspirations, describing their purpose in studying medicine, and outlining the uses to which they hope to put their medical training (Maximum 500 Words); and
- Community involvement by the applicant.
Applicants will be asked to provide a brief curriculum vitae and the names, addresses and telephone numbers of two referees and copies of their most recent transcript.
If a scholarship holder fails to complete the course of study set down for any year, the scholarship must be surrendered. If a holder's performance in any semester is unsatisfactory in the opinion of the head of the medical faculty or institution, further payments under the scholarship may be withheld.
The value of any scholarship given in 2008 will be a maximum of $9,000 per annum. Please note that it is your responsibility to seek advice from Centrelink, on how the scholarship payment will affect your ABSTUDY or any other government payment. The Australian Tax Office does not consider any scholarships payments as taxable income for the financial year.
One scholarship will be awarded in 2008. The scholarship will be awarded for a full course of study, subject to review at the end of each year. If you require the scholarship to be paid as re-imbursements of educational costs, the Board of Trustees will arrange this. A scholarship may be awarded partway through a year to apply to the remainder of the year's study.
Applications close Friday 16 November 2007.
The Indigenous Peoples' Medical Scholarship Trust Fund has been established with a contribution from the Australian Government. The Trust is administered by the Australian Medical Association, with the help of an advisory committee appointed by the Board of Trustees.
The Australian Medical Association would like to acknowledge our new sponsor, the Reuben Pelerman Benevolent Foundation for their support of the Indigenous Peoples’ Medical Scholarship Trust Fund.