The 2016 recipient of The Carmel Baulderstone Memorial Scholarship is Hannah Leadbeater, who in keeping with the purpose of the scholarship undertook a rural clinical placement in Alice Springs, Northern Territory. Hannah spent six weeks in the Intensive Care Unit at Alice Springs Hospital and two weeks at Mt. Liebig, a remote Indigenous community, approximately 280kms west of Alice Springs.

“Throughout my time as a nursing student I have come to realise what a diverse profession nursing is; it only makes sense that our experiences as students are diverse as well. My experiences are those that cannot be learnt from a book, or gained from a classroom; it was a truly enlightening experience and one that I place high value upon.” – Hannah Leadbeater

Hannah describes that the scholarship gave her the ‘reassurance’ to apply for a remote placement and allowing her to ‘maximize this learning opportunity and thrive in a socially and clinically challenging healthcare environment.’

This scholarship has been established from a bequest made from the estate of Mrs Carmel Baulderstone, and further contributed to by her family, friends and colleagues. Dr Jo Baulderstone explained that the rationale for establishing the scholarship in this way:

“I know from teaching at Flinders that most students these days have to work to support themselves and that because of this they can encounter financial difficulties when they aren’t able to work during their placements…This is particularly true if they have to go to rural areas, so we wanted to establish a scholarship that would enable them to do their placement without having to worry.” –  Dr Jo Baulderstone  (InDaily, 2014, Reflections on a family legacy of giving)

The scholarship provides a contribution towards a living allowance and travel costs, and is offered to up to four students annually to a combined total value of $5000. Applications for the Carmel Baulderstone Memorial Scholarship are currently open and close on 28 April 2017.