Improving the quality of education and health care in rural communities

Attracting exceptional teachers and health care workers to rural and regional locations is an ongoing challenge for many country communities across Australia.

The Andrew Thyne Reid Scholarship is addressing this concern by offering scholarships to high achieving Flinders University students, enabling to them to do their practical placement in rural and regional locations.

The country placements provide students with unique country experiences and exposes them to the opportunities and benefits of living regionally. Understanding the impact they can have in these areas, many new graduates then choose to return to the communities they have worked within.

The scholarships assist students with costs associated with a rural placement such as travel, accommodation and day to day living expenses. They also help to address some of the potential barriers for students to undertake country placements such as the maintenance of their home-base accommodation and the loss of income from city-based employment.

So far, the Andrew Thyne Reid Scholarship has supported 86 teaching students, and since the beginning of 2020, two health care students from Flinders University. Of the teaching students who received the support, 77% have accepted teaching positions in rural and regional locations across Australia once they graduated.

Andrew Thyne Reid Scholarships have now been extended to support high-achieving nursing, midwifery and allied health students at Flinders to complete their placements in rural and remote communities.

Andrew Thyne Reid Scholarships advance equality in education. The financial assistance enables Flinders University students to take up country placements which builds their professional capacity and, in turn, improves the quality of education and health care provided in rural communities across Australia.

^{Published: 2020. Author: Lynda Allen}

'Completing my final practicum experience in a rural setting was a fantastic opportunity to build my capacity as a professional and to develop my personal growth as an effective educator,' 
says Annabel Coleman.