Avant Foundation Medical Scholarship

Avant Foundation Medical Scholarship is open for you to apply if you:

• Are enrolled in the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) at James Cook University.
• Are in Year 4, 5 or 6 of your studies

• Be from a rural or remote background (RA3-RA5 rating). To determine if you are from RA3-RA5 remote access classification, please enter your home address into Health Workforce Locator. The output you are looking at is “ASGS Remoteness Areas 2021”. Your address will be given a rating from RA1 to RA5.
• Are experiencing financial hardship.

If you are successful in your application, you will receive $5,000 paid in a lumpsum upon awarding into your personal account.

Applications must be submitted on the official application form no later than the date set by the Selection Committee for the year in which the award is to be made. Applicants must submit with the official form, where appropriate:

• A copy of your JCU academic record,
• Financial hardship documentation, documented evidence of financial hardship based on your answers in the application questions.
• Proof of home address from RA3-RA5 location. If you moved away to study and require evidence of where you are moving from:
  • Proof of address is any document/s showing your name, residential address including post code and date of issue. Examples can include school reports, bills, rates notice, or Centrelink letters.
  • Your school can provide a letter confirming residential address history upon request.
  • To determine if you are from RA3-RA5 remote access classification, please enter your home address into Health Workforce Locator. The output you are looking at is “ASGS Remoteness Areas 2021”. Your address will give a RA1-RA5 rating.
• A written statement outlining:
  • Why you choose to study medicine?
  • Career aspirations
  • Tell us about where you are from and what it was like
  • Outline the impact the scholarship would have on your capacity to continue studying.

Applications submitted without the relevant documentation will not be considered.

The applicant authorises the Selection Committee to make such enquires as to the applicant's good character and suitability to receive the grant, which includes authorisation for the Selection Committee to examine the applicant's academic record, and seek opinions from relevant members of the staff of this University or any other academic institution.

Your application is checked for completeness and eligibility, and you will receive an email confirmation it has been received. After the closing date it will be individually assessed and put forward to a selection committee who will rank your application against others who have applied. Applicants may be required to attend an interview as part of the selection process.

Introduction

Our bursaries invest in the future of healthcare in Australia. They support people entering the medical profession or completing further education in medicine, with a focus on bringing equity to education in medicine. Through our bursaries we aim to support those overcoming disadvantage in the pursuit of their medical or healthcare studies. We do this through multi-year partnerships with charities, universities and colleges to provide bursaries on an ongoing basis to support the full period of study for eligible students. Our bursaries are administered through our education partners

This scholarship is subject to the provisions of the James Cook University Coursework Scholarships, Bursaries and Grants Policy

Value and payment of the scholarship

If you are successful in your application, you will receive $5,000 paid in a lumpsum upon awarding into your personal account.

Eligibility Criteria

Avant Foundation Medical Scholarship is open for you to apply if you:

• Are enrolled in the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) at James Cook University.
• Are in Year 4, 5 or 6 of your studies.
• Be from a rural or remote background (RA3-RA5 rating). To determine if you are from RA3-RA5 remote access classification, please enter your home address into Health Workforce Locator. The output you are looking at is “ASGS Remoteness Areas 2021”. Your address will be given a rating from RA1 to RA5.
• Are experiencing financial hardship.

Selection Criteria

The Selection Committee shall, in the exercise of its absolute discretion, afford consideration to the following criteria:

Financial hardship (50%)

Written application (40%)

Point in degree (5%)

Rural and Remote Access rating (5%)

In addition to the weighted selection criteria, the Selection Committee may consider factors that have contributed to educational disadvantage or under-representation in medicine, including:

• Indigenous status;
• low socio-economic status (SEIFA Level 1 or 2);
• living with disability;
• identifying as LGBTIQ+;
• culturally and linguistically diverse background; and
• any other personal circumstances relevant to the objectives of the Scholarship.

Application Procedures

Applicants wanting to apply for this scholarship must attach the following documents to their application form.

• A copy of your JCU academic record,
• Financial hardship documentation, documented evidence of financial hardship based on your answers in the application questions.
• Proof of home address from RA3-RA5 location. If you moved away to study and require evidence of where you are moving from:
  • Proof of address is any document/s showing your name, residential address including post code and date of issue. Examples can include school reports, bills, rates notice, or Centrelink letters.
  • Your school can provide a letter confirming residential address history upon request.
  • To determine if you are from RA3-RA5 remote access classification, please enter your home address into Health Workforce Locator. The output you are looking at is “ASGS Remoteness Areas 2021”. Your address will give a RA1-RA5 rating.
• A written statement outlining:
  • Why you choose to study medicine?
  • Career aspirations
  • Tell us about where you are from and what it was like
  • Outline the impact the scholarship would have on your capacity to continue studying.

Applications submitted without the relevant documentation will not be considered.

The applicant authorises the Selection Committee to make such enquires as to the applicant's good character and suitability to receive the scholarship, which includes authorization for the Selection Committee to examine the applicant's academic record and seek opinions from relevant members of the academic staff of this University or any other academic institution.

Selection Process

The award of the scholarship shall be made in the absolute discretion of the Selection Committee, which shall comprise:

• Dean and Head of Medicine or nominee (Chair)
• Associate Dean, Students, Medicine or nominee, and
• Head, Clinical Studies, Medicine or nominee.

The Selection Committee reserves the right:

• Not to award a Scholarship in any year if, in the opinion of the Selection Committee, there is no candidate of sufficient merit to warrant an award.
• The Selection Committee may require applicants to undertake an interview as part of their application.
• The Selection Committee will determine all matters relating to the selection of the Scholarship awardee.

Conditions of the Scholarship

• Recipient is required provide a short student impact report and photo from their studies at the end the calendar year. A template will be provided.
• If recipient does not remain enrolled full-time or takes an approved Leave of Absence (LOA) scholarship will be awarded to another eligible recipient. Scholarship funding for this program will not be held.
• Applicants and recipients are allowed to reapply annually.
• A student may lodge a request for review of decision in accordance with the provisions of the Student Complaints Policy and Procedures.

Administration of the Scholarship

The scholarship shall be administered by Scholarships Office of the University, on behalf of the Selection Committee.

The funds of the scholarship shall be held in an account in the name of the University and shall be administered by the scholarship office.

Where an award provides some benefit to the recipient from a body external to the University, or an obligation upon a body external to the University, the University, its servants, and agents, shall not be liable for that benefit or obligation

Please refer to Glossary of Terms.