In a ceremony hosted by Professor Paul Worley, Dean of the School of Medicine, the inaugural Bupa Scholarships in Health & Wellness and Indigenous Health were presented to the recipients by Mr Daniel Gallagher, Bupa State Manager for South Australia and the Northern Territory.

The 2012 Bupa Health & Wellness Scholarship recipient, Ms Emma Tonkin, is a Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics (BND) Honours student. Growing up in Renmark and then Victor Harbor, Emma originally planned to study Medicine but decided that Nutrition and Dietetics offered broader and more flexible career opportunities. She was the highest achieving student in either the 3rd year of the BND or the 1st year of the MND in 2011 and, to date, has an enviable GPA of 6.79, with Distinctions or High Distinctions in all topics.

Ms Lisa Diamond was awarded the 2012 Bupa Indigenous Health Scholarship, which is open to Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander students in the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (BMBS) program and is awarded to the top indigenous student at the end of Year 2 of the BMBS.

Born in Brisbane, Lisa moved with her family to Rockhampton when she was 1, and later attended Queensland University of Technology where she studied Radiography. After working in a public hospital in Queensland for 6 years, she moved to Adelaide and into the graduate entry BMBS program at Flinders. Lisa wants to work with disadvantaged people, and her family history has Murri connections and is part of the Stolen Generations.

Flinders University gratefully acknowledges the generous support of Bupa for these two new scholarships, which have helped further strengthen ties between the University and Bupa, one of Australia’s largest health partners and private health insurance providers.

Bupa offers a tailored Corporate Health Plan for Flinders Alumni. For more information, Alumni can contact Kate Hussey at Bupa by phoning 0432 750 862.