Scholarships

The successful 2019 recipient is Dr Janet Rhodes, Dunedin. Her research project is entitled ‘Multiplex immunohistochemistry to quantify cancer patients.’

The scholarship, which is normally held for one year, was established by the trust in memory of the late Assoc Prof Richard Stewart FRACS, Postgraduate Dean, Wellington School of Medicine, and is currently valued at $25,000.

Applications close, date to be confirmed

The following conditions apply:

1. The scholarship is open to medical graduates holding a degree registrable in NZ.
2. A candidate will be either a SET TRAINEE of the RACS, or a surgeon who is a fellow of the RACS. In the latter situation, a candidate will normally have held the FRACS diploma for not more than 5 years.
3. TThe scholarship will be held in a surgical department at any campus of the Otago Medical School. The candidate will usually be in a surgical research post.
4. A budget is to be submitted with the Scholarship application.
5. The monies may be used to purchase materials and equipment related to research. At the discretion of the Head of Department, they may also be used to supplement the candidate’s stipend, to fund travel related to the candidate’s research, or to present his/her research at an approved Meeting, or attend a Postgraduate Course.
6. The successful Scholarship recipient will be given 80% of the Scholarship funds at the commencement of their project and the remaining 20% on receipt of an adequate research report.
   The Trust requires a report from the successful candidate on activities undertaken on completion of the Scholarship.

Application for this scholarship should be made directly to Chairman of the Trust, Office of the Dunedin Basic Medical Sciences Course Trust, c/- Department of General Practice & Rural Health, 55 Hanover Street, Dunedin School of Medicine, P O Box 56, Dunedin, 9054. Alternatively may be sent electronically to bse.course@otago.ac.nz

The application should be relatively brief (not more than 2 A4 pages (excluding CV) and in a nutshell should say what you want to do and why you want to do it, and when you’re going to do it, and how much it is going to cost. It should therefore cover the following:

1. Aims and/or objectives for use of Scholarship funds
2. If for a research project, outline the proposal, how it will be achieved (ie methodology), provide a timeline, and a budget. If appropriate, ethics approval must be obtained. This can occur following the award of the Scholarship, but funding handover for such cannot occur before approval is granted.
3. If the Scholarship is to be used for other purposes – eg stipend, conference travel, attendance at a Postgraduate Course etc then the specific purpose must be stated, and a budget provided.
4. A Curriculum Vitae of the applicant must be provided.

The names and email addresses of two referees should be provided.

Richard Stewart – Photo from Wellington School of Medicine Archives.

Richard Stewart’s career reminds us that in spite of all the advances in medical sciences the lives of the most dedicated doctors can still be cut short by disabling disease.

In 1974, after training in the UK, he was appointed Senior Lecturer at the Christchurch Medical School and consultant surgeon to the Hospital.

He soon acquired the FRACS and the ChM. In 1980 he moved to the Wellington School of Medicine where he became Associate Professor and had important opportunities for research. He was particularly interested in fine needle aspiration of the acute abdomen and he won the Jacksonian Prize of the College for an essay on this subject.

Tragically Richard suffered from motor neurone disease, the progress of which compelled him to give up surgery in 1989. He continued to work as Associate Postgraduate Dean and embarked on a degree course in philosophy, but he died of his disease on 1 January 1991.

The Dunedin Basic Medical Sciences Course created this Scholarship in his memory.
MB ChB (Otago) 1965, FRCS (Eng) 1970, FRACS 1974, ChM (Otago) 1978

Successful recipients were:
Aroa Rey Campa; Alice McSweeney; Gaurav Chandra Gyanwali; Nichaela Harbison-Price all from Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of Otago; and Vaughn Ticar from the Hibma Laboratory, Department of Pathology, Dunedin School of Medicine.