Three students from across the country have been named as the inaugural winners of the Symbion and Pharmacy Guild Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Pharmacy Student Scholarship Initiative.
The initiative flows from the Guild’s and Symbion’s reconciliation initiatives being implemented through their own respective Reconciliation Action Plans (RAPs),endorsed by Reconciliation Australia.
The three recipients of the scholarship are:
- Keely Clemments, first year pharmacy student at James Cook University.
- Bryony Forrest, second year pharmacy student at RMIT University
- Tameera Guivarra, fourth year pharmacy student at Queensland University of Technology (QUT).
The scholarship aims to support and encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pharmacy students undertaking studies in pharmacy and to facilitate growth in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment.
Scholarship holders receive $10,000 each year, for up to four years of study, to help cover the costs associated with study and living away from home.
Scholarship holders will also have support and guidance from a mentor and will have access to ongoing employment and career support and opportunities through TerryWhite Chemmart pharmacies.
National President of the Pharmacy Guild, Professor Trent Twomey, said the initiative was a welcome move in strengthening the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pharmacy workforce through education and career support.
“The Guild and Symbion through this scholarship are prioritising positive health outcomes for First Nations people, and this scholarship will have far-reaching and lasting positive impacts,” Professor Twomey said.
Chief Executive Officer of Symbion, Brett Barons, said, “It will help to build a strengthened Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pharmacy workforce which will result in an increased provision of, and access to, improved culturally appropriate pharmacy services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients.”
