Scholarships assist allied health students

Three allied health students at Federation University in Churchill were the inaugural recipients of Gippsland Primary Health Network's new scholarships.
As part of a $500,000 commitment, Gippsland PHN will provide scholarships to three new students each year for 12 years, supporting them to succeed in their studies without the stress of financial pressure.
Gippsland PHN chief executive officer, Amanda Proposch presented the scholarships to Gianna Ziero from Drouin West who is studying a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy
(Honours), Jake Kallady from Warragul who is studying a Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Honours) and Anna Solomon from Morwell who is studying for a Bachelor of Social Work.
Ms Proposch said the students were worthy recipients.
"We know the cost of tertiary study for Gippsland students can be significant, especially with travel and accommodation.
"These scholarships are designed to alleviate those pressures. It will also support the pipeline of local health professionals in order to address ongoing workforce issues.
We know that young people who study in Gippsland are more likely to remain in Gippsland," she said.
Gianna said the scholarship would help pay for fuel to travel to the Churchill campus and to dedicate more time to study.
From a young age, Gianna knew she wanted to help people, particularly young children, and seeing the care her three-year-old brother received from his occupational therapist helped her settle on occupational therapy as a career.
"My overall goal is to become a practising occupational therapist in my community and help reduce the wait lists in allied health," she said. "I'm really loving the course so far and the OT cohort of students are so lovely and it's lovely being in a small class. Everyone's just working with each other."
Federation University launched its Gippsland allied health programs to help tackle local workforce shortages, beginning with occupational therapy in 2020, followed by physiotherapy in 2021 and speech pathology in 2022. It has since expanded to include social work last year.
"One of our strategic objectives is to strengthen workforce capability," Ms Proposch said. "We want to assist clinicians in having access to the best practice training and education and also help primary care providers attract and retain staff, supporting the delivery of safe, high quality services."
Federation University vice-chancellor and president, Professor Duncan Bentley said scholarships helped to ease the pressure of financial hardship for students, providing them with the opportunity to participate fully in their studies and fulfil their aspirations.
"This is possible through the generosity of our donors and we are so delighted to be able to again award a record number thanks to these partnerships."