The Rotary Club of Albury-Hume has this year presented two of their annual Dr John McDonald Medical Scholarships to local medical students, one studying at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Rural Clinical School, Albury campus and the other at Wollongong University.

The scholarship is named in honour of a Past President of the Rotary Club of Albury-Hume, the late Dr John McDonald, who was instrumental in initiating the idea of helping medical students from our region who intend to practice in regional NSW. The scholarships are valued at $2,000 and are designed to assist in the purchase of essential textbooks and equipment.  The scholarships were first awarded in 2013.

The first scholarship this year was presented by outgoing Albury-Hume President, Margaret McDonald, (widow of the late Dr John McDonald) to Narayan Khanal, who arrived in Albury in 2009 as a 12-year-old from a refugee camp in Nepal.

With a medical science degree already completed, the former Murray High School student is now in his 2^nd year of medicine at Wollongong University. “My desire to pursue a medical career is based on my early experiences as a child born and nurtured in a refugee camp where there was no medical infrastructure in place,” said Narayan. “My family received help as refugees and I want to help so I joined the Multicultural Youth Affairs Network and was appointed as NSW ambassador, travelling to Geneva for the Global Summit for Refugees.”

The second of the Albury-Hume Rotary Club scholarships was presented to 38-year-old mother of four, Megan Torpey, by incoming President, Graham Fuller.

Megan is in her 3^rd year at the UNSW Rural Clinical School in Albury, having commenced her career in health as an Aboriginal Health Worker and Koori Maternity Support Worker.  She gained a BA and Master of Public Health from the University of Melbourne and was awarded reserve candidate for an Australian Fulbright Fellowship to Harvard University. As a Dharug woman, Megan is determined to involve herself with Indigenous health initiatives in regional areas with a focus on bettering maternity and obstetric outcomes.

Our annual Dr. John McDonald Scholarship Award was awarded to University of NSW Student, Nicola Ball. The award was presented by Margaret McDonald and President Stephen O’Connell at last week’s meeting. Nicola told us her father was also awarded a Rotary scholarship and she was a Rotary exchange student and now a recipient of this scholarship. She is hoping to practice in the country as opposed to the city.