Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network is pleased to announce the availability of three $5,000 Rural Student Research Scholarships for the 2023/24 year.

Two of the Scholarships are open to any health students to support a 12-week elective/studentship, and/or research placement within a rural community of the student’s choice. A BNZ Rural Development scholarship is available to any year two and above Medical Student for the same period.

Previous examples of research include the 2022 recipient of one of the research scholarships, Krystyna Glavinovic, a second-year medical student from the University of Auckland. Krystyna conducted a research project titled: Understandings and experiences of climate change in rural general practices in Aotearoa-New Zealand. 

Supervised by Dr Kyle Eggleton of the University of Auckland and A/Prof Alex Macmillan of the University of Otago, Krystyna undertook the study to determine the understandings, experiences, and sense of preparedness of rural general practice staff in Aotearoa-New Zealand with respect to climate change and associated adverse weather events.

In 2023, Samantha Menzies, fourth-year medical student at Tauranga Hospital, was the recipient of the BNZ Rural Development Scholarship. She has since been conducting a research project with Dr Kyle Eggleton.

“Our project was a rapid review of the available literature about rural healthcare ethics. It is the first research paper to describe rural doctors’ unique ethical challenges compared to urban doctors. It is currently awaiting a peer review and is informing the development of a teaching resource about medical ethics for medical students.”

She continued to describe how “the scholarship has allowed me to explore my newfound interest in rural medicine. I got to ‘deep dive’ into the literature and have in-depth but causal discussions with Dr Kyle about the reality (both the highs and lows) of being a rural doctor, so thank you Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network and BNZ for this opportunity”.

As both examples of previous projects indicate, successful applicants are expected to write up the results of any research and attempt to get this published. In addition, the student is expected to provide an abstract for presentation at the National Rural Health Conference or comparable health conference.

Students wishing to apply should complete the attached application form and return to Hauora Taiwhenua by 1st August 2023.