Academic Governance

Dr Santokh Sindhu was a lecturer and leader in the University’s Department of Paediatrics and Child Health from 1971 until his retirement in 1995.

Born in 1932 in Kuala Kangser, Malaysia, of Sikh parents, Santokh Singh Sindhu completed his secondary education in Malaysia before graduating in medicine from the University of Adelaide.  He obtained membership of the Royal Australian College of Physicians in 1962 and began his specialist career in paediatrics at the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in Perth in 1960.  He returned to Malaysia in 1965 and worked as a paediatrician in the health sector before being appointed as senior lecturer in the Department of Child Health in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Tasmania in 1971.

Dr Sindhu enjoyed eminence as a competent paediatrician, a first class teacher and a skilled communicator who lead the construction of a team approach to child health in the hospital and the community. He related easily to staff, students and patients and his quiet sense of humour make him well remembered by all who worked with him or who were taught by him. 

Dr Sindhu’s family has determined to encourage Tasmanian medical students to focus on child health during their undergraduate course by providing a travelling scholarship for a minimum period of six (6) weeks to assist them to undertake elective study in the discipline, preferably in a developing country or in an indigenous community not receiving prevailing health standards.

Rules

1. An amount of $75,000 donated by his wife Gurdip Kaur Sindhu to the University of Tasmania, together with any income (by way of interest earned) from time to time forms the endowment of a scholarship to be called the "Dr Santokh Singh Sindhu Travelling Scholarship in Paediatrics". 
2. The scholarship will be awarded to a student who is eligible to undertake an elective in paediatrics and who has demonstrated an interest in this area of medicine and has to travel, preferably overseas, to undertake it. 
3. The scholarship will be awarded by a selection committee comprising:
   • the Head of the School of Medicine or a nominee; 
   • Professor Ian Lewis, while he wishes to be involved; 
   • Dr Ian Stewart or another person nominated by the Sindhu family, while they wish to be involved;
   • after the end of the involvement of the Sindhu family, one additional member of academic staff in the School of Medicine nominated by the Vice-Chancellor.  
4. The selection committee will set the detailed selection and performance criteria for the scholarship having regard to the intention of the donor.  However, in its selection, amongst other things, the committee shall take into account:
   • the personal qualities and achievements of prospective recipients;
   • their demonstrated interest in the discipline of paediatrics; 
   • the relevance of the location of the proposed elective to the development of their medical education.
5. The selection committee will request from each recipient a written report detailing the experiences the student had whilst on the travelling scholarship and an analysis of the health problems and health needs of the region visited; and expect that each recipient undertake to address their peers on these issues with possible solutions to them as perceived by the student.
6. The selection committee will set the annual value of the scholarship from time to time, having regard to the income to the fund for the endowment.  
7. The selection committee will determine all other matters concerning the scholarship, including advertising, application procedures, and the method and time of payment of the scholarship.
8. The selection committee will report annually to Academic Senate on the recipient of the scholarship. 
9. Should the School of Medicine change its curriculum such that elective periods are no longer available, the selection committee may recommend to Academic Senate that the scholarship is to be offered to a student in the Faculty of Education to provide a period of 6 weeks in an overseas centre of excellence in the field of early childhood education or in the needs of the disabled child.
      
     Made by Academic Senate on 7 September 2007