Australian Medical Association

To encourage and assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people intending to complete a medical degree at an Australian university.

Applicants for this scholarship must be Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders.  For the purposes of this scholarship, 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.

To be awarded a scholarship, applicants must be currently enrolled at an Australian Medical School, and have successfully completed their first year of a medical degree. However, students who are currently in their first year of medicine are eligible to apply. In awarding the scholarship, preference will be given to applicants who do not already hold any other substantial scholarship.

Applications close Tuesday January 2012.

The AMA today opened nominations for the 2011 AMA Indigenous Peoples’ Medical Scholarship.

The scholarship was established in 1995 to help increase the number of Indigenous doctors in Australia.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that the AMA believes that an essential part of closing the gap in Indigenous health is to build an adequate workforce that includes doctors and health professionals who are Indigenous.

A former high school teacher and mentor who wants to improve the health of Indigenous people has won the AMA Indigenous Peoples’ Medical Scholarship for 2010.

Karen Taylor was awarded the scholarship by AMA Federal Vice President and Chair of the AMA Indigenous Health Taskforce, Dr Steve Hambleton.

Valued at $9,000 for each year of study, the scholarship provides support and encouragement for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students studying medicine.

To encourage and assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people intending to complete a medical degree at an Australian university.

Applications close Friday 30 January 2009.