Past Rural Nursing & Medical Scholarships Program

One of my main endeavours to continue being a rural nurse for my graduate position has come from working at Central Gippsland Health for the past 2.5 years.   Along with completing placements throughout my studies at hospitals such as Barinsdale Regional Hospital and Central Gippsland health, both have given me broad exposure into the variety of work that I can e involved in.

As a mature age student, I found my passion for nursing a little later in life.   I am a single mother of 2 teenager daughters who attend local catholic schools and participate in community sports.   Sale is my home, the community that I was raised in and where I am raising my daughters.  I want to enrich my girls with a sense of belonging and appreciation of their community by giving back and being part of building a better future of out town.

Living and working in a rural area offers a number of professional and personal benefits.   I believe the profession benefits of working in a rural area include greater autonomy and responsibility, a diverse patient mix and many opportunities to grow my clinical knowledge and skills.

My clinical placements in regional hospitals have provided me with a well rounded education and opportunities to learn, ask questions and practice procedures in a calm environment.

For me, rural and regional nursing means more than what I consciously realised. I was born and raised in the Gippsland area and have been lucky enough to undergo my clinical placements rurally at Bairnsdale Regional Health and Central Gippsland Health predominantly. During my third year of study at Federation University I was fortunate to gain a place as a Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing (RUSON) in the Bairnsdale Emergency department where I witnessed the impact of rural and regional nursing firsthand.

Hindsight is a marvellous thing, looking back I know when I first respected those in the nursing profession. My great grandmother, had a stroke that left half of her body paralysed. With amazing staff and rehabilitation, the last stage of her life was filled with not only frustrations, but also joy. In and out of hospitals we became familiar with different hospital staff. Some nurses would come in and complete the tasks necessary. They would take the time to understand her jumbled speech and would make her laugh. I respected these nurses and am still to this day am so grateful for the happiness they brought great grandmother.

From a child of six or seven years old, I remember saying that I was always going to be a nurse. I completed my original nursing training as an Enrolled Nurse Endorsed in 2009 while we were living in the southwest Victorian town of Warrnambool. For the past eleven years, I have worked in rural and regional areas of Victoria as a nurse, most recently the Grampians and Gippsland regions. As a result of my nursing experience as an Enrolled Nurse, I have developed a strong passion for rural nursing. It comes with so many rewards and challenges – and I love a challenge!

Since commencing my medical student journey, I have been fortunate to engage in multi-day rural experiences in Bathurst through Western Sydney University’s Rural Program. I have had the opportunity to volunteer at different community events such as community health checks at the Royal Bathurst Show and Bathurst 500. Through these community engagements, I was able to immerse myself in the local community. I also participated in the WSU Rural Health Club’s School Outreach Trip in 2022, whereby we demonstrated medical and allied health skills to high school students in Bathurst to provide an insight into health career options. I really enjoyed this experience as it gave me an insight into the community-oriented mindset of the staff and students at Bathurst Clinical School.

My name is Gahena Ram, I will be a fourth-year medical student in 2024 at Bathurst Rural Clinical School, and I would love the opportunity to receive the Australian Rotary Health Rural Clinical Health Scholarship. I am from Maitland but have been living in Campbelltown for the past three years because of my studies. I chose to come to Bathurst as I do feel like I belong with rural/regional communities much more due to the way I grew up and am looking forward to joining a regional setting once more.

As a future doctor, I believe community involvement and extracurricular interests are a vital part of becoming a holistic and well-rounded medical professional, to be able to fully understand the community that one serves

The Australian Rotary Health Rural Health Scholarship would greatly support myself as I transition my studies into the rural location. I have always been interested in studying in a rural area and broadening my scope for further work life potentially in a rural location. This scholarship would assist my transition to Bathurst and moving away from home for the first time would be a lot smoother until I can start supporting myself financially while being able to turn my focus to getting as much experience in the hospital and organising my study and assessments. I also hope to spend this time settling into the new environment and with this, I hope to put a good amount of time into my rural based MD research program which is looking at the comparison between screening and management of atrial fibrillation between urban and rural areas.

It was only when I moved from my hometown on the Mid North Coast to Canberra for my university studies that I truly realised and appreciated the incredible sense of community that rural places hold that just can’t be replicated in a city environment. Growing up, I was always eager to engage in community events, whether it be to raise funds for local charities or show off the town in local events. That is one of the reasons I am so excited and grateful to be able to move to the Bega Valley next year to live, work and connect with the local community. For me, the Australian Rotary Health Rural Health Scholarship would enable me to do that in several ways.