By Tyler Wright
Five locals have received a financial boost to support their studies in medicine and allied health, thanks to scholarships from The Rotary Club of Emerald & District.
Lillian Mackay, Vanessa Dewar, Shae Jones, Tahlia Rossitto and Ruby Mulloy-Koning each received $1,000 through the club’s MacLeod Murphy Medical Scholarship to support their endeavours in a Bachelor of Paramedicine, a Bachelor of Nursing and Midwifery, a Postgraduate Pharmacy degree, a Bachelor of Pharmacy, and a Bachelor of Paramedicine respectively.
Emerald & District Rotary Club president Marcus Adams said the organisation received several applications for the scholarship this year, with recipients announced on Tuesday 9 May at Paradise Valley Hotel in Clematis.
“After what’s happened with Covid, there’s been a real acknowledgment of the work and the support and the risks of our health workers, so for our club this year to be able to provide $5,000 in total for sponsor students to be working in these fields, it was a great feeling,” Mr Adams said.
“It’s not cheap studying these days, and to get some support locally for them is a real boost, because even if it’s only one or two of them that come back and support this local community, they’ll always know that the community was right behind them at the start.”
The MacLeod Murphy Medical Scholarship was set up in 1981 for Emerald Rotary to be overseers for medical and allied service scholarships to students living in the Hills, in the name of the Hills’ first local GP, Dr Ian Stephen MacLeod Murphy.
Dr Murphy practiced for 37 years, establishing the Emerald Medical Centre in the old post office, often accepting food instead of monetary payment for patients struggling with financial issues.
In 1977, Dr Murphy was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to the health of the community.
The walkway beside the surgery, Murphys Way, was named in honour of his decades of service and his quirky ways.
He died aged 76 on 4 July 1981 at Clematis, and is buried at the Emerald Cemetery.
The MacLeod Murphy Medical Scholarship is sponsored by Emerald Medical Centre, Emerald Village Pharmacy, Emerald Psychology Practice and Avonsleigh Veterinary Clinic.
