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AMA Indigenous Medical Scholarship 2020

This Scholarship is open to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are currently studying medicine at an Australian university.  For the purposes of this Scholarship, an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person is someone who is of Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent, who identifies as an Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person 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 and/or Torres Strait Islander community organisation supporting their claim.

The Scholarship commences no earlier than the second year of the recipient’s medical degree.  To receive the Scholarship, the recipient must be enrolled at an Australian medical school at the time of application, and have successfully completed the first year of a medical degree.  However, students who are in their first year of medicine are eligible to submit an application for their second year.  Results for the first year will be sought before any award is made. 

In awarding the Scholarship, preference will be given to applicants who do not already hold any other scholarship or bursary. 

The Scholarship will be awarded on the recommendation of a selection panel drawn from the AMA’s Taskforce on Indigenous Health.  Selection of the Scholarship recipient will be based on:

  • satisfactory academic performance judged on results achieved;
  • reports from referees familiar with applicant’s work and suitability for a career in medicine; and
  • a statement provided by the applicant describing his or her aspirations, purpose in studying medicine, and the uses to which he or she hopes to put his or her medical training.

Each applicant will be asked to provide a curriculum vitae (maximum two pages) including employment history, the contact details of two referees, and formal proof of full-time enrolment in a medical course for the 2019 academic year.

The Scholarship will be awarded for a full course of study, subject to review at the end of each year.  The Scholarship may be withheld or terminated if a Scholarship holder’s performance in any semester is unsatisfactory. The final decision to withhold or terminate a Scholarship is at the discretion of the AMA.

The value of the Scholarship in 2020 will be $10,000 per annum, paid in a lump sum.  Please note that it is the responsibility of applicants to seek advice from Centrelink on how the Scholarship payment may affect ABSTUDY or any other government payment.

Applications close 31 January 2020.

The Indigenous Peoples' Medical Scholarship Trust Fund was established in 1994 with a contribution from the Australian Government.   In 2016, the Trust Fund became The AMA Indigenous Medical Scholarship Foundation.  The Foundation is administered by AMA Pty Ltd.

The Australian Medical Association would like to acknowledge the contributions of the following donors:  Reuben Pelerman Benevolent Foundation; the late Beryl Jamieson’s wishes for donations towards the Indigenous Medical Scholarship; Deakin University; The Anna Wearne Fund and B B & A Miller, sub-funds of the Australian Communities Foundation.

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