Jessica Coolwell, a student at Flinders University in the Northern Territory, has won a $20,000 rural studies award to help complete her medicine studies.

From Cave Creek Station via Mataranka in the Northern Territory, Jessica completed a Bachelor of Health Sciences before commencing a four year Doctor of Medicine with Flinders University in Darwin in 2018.

She plans to become a general practitioner and work in remote areas of the Northern Territory.

Jessica said ”I grew up witnessing the many disadvantages people living in the remote NT face and I am determined to be a doctor who takes primary healthcare to places most people don’t want to go, and to bush people like my own family.”

In presenting Jessica with the E.J. Connellan Award, she was acknowledged for a strong commitment to assisting people in outback Australia.

The E.J. Connellan Award was established in 1988 to assist people over the age of 16 who live in remote Australia with financial support to undertake further studies or research.