On the 9th August, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia announced the recipients of the Rural Pharmacy Scholarship Scheme 2012. The School of Pharmacy would like to congratulate second-year Bachelor of Pharmacy student Liam Beattie on being awarded the prestigious scholarship.
Forty-one students from across the country were awarded the scholarship, which provides them with up to $40,000 during their time at university. Liam hails from Jetsonville, near Scottsdale in the north of the state and was the only Tasmanian to receive the scholarship, with the bulk of recipients residing in rural New South Wales and Queensland.
"The Rural Pharmacy Scholarships provide financial support to students from rural and remote communities," the National President of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, Kos Sclavos, said.
"The mentoring program not only helps the students develop a learning plan, but it provides support to students outside of the university environment. It's an important tool for supporting students who have come from rural and remote areas and are studying away from their family support base."
Scholarship holders receive $10,000 each year, for up to four years of study, to help cover the costs associated with studying away from home. They also participate in a mentor program aimed at reinforcing the students' ties to rural and regional Australia.
Scholarship holders are encouraged to pursue a career in pharmacy in a rural or remote area of Australia after graduation. During their studies they have a responsibility to promote rural pharmacy as a career choice to secondary school students.
This scholarship will be of significance to Liam who had to relocate to Hobart in 2011 to undertake his Bachelor of Pharmacy degree. It is hoped that the increasing availability of financial support to students residing in rural and remote areas across Tasmania encourages more students from these areas to pursue tertiary education.
The Rural Pharmacy Scholarship Scheme is an initiative of the Rural Pharmacy Workforce Program, established in recognition of the key role pharmacists play in maintaining the health of all Australians. The program is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing as part of the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement.