Australian Medical Association announces 2025 Indigenous Medical Scholarship

In an effort to increase Indigenous representation in the medical field, the AMA issued 38 scholarships in 2023. Now the association is calling on the next wave of applicants.

Professor Kelvin Kong, who was named the 2024 NAIDOC Person of the Year, was one of the scholarship's first recipients in 1997. Picture: AMA.

Aboriginal medical school students are being offered the chance to land a scholarship worth up to $11,000 per year, as part of a broader movement to grow First Nations representation in the medical space.

This month, the Australian Medical Association announced applications for the 2025 AMA Indigenous Medical Scholarship was officially open to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

Dr Amy Rosser is a former recipient of the AMA's Indigenous Medical Scholarship. Picture: AMA.

AMA President Dr Danielle McMullen said she was pleased to lead an organisation encouraging the “next generation” of Indigenous doctors.

“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples remain under-represented in the medical profession, and this scholarship, which has been running for the past 30 years, is an important step in building a more inclusive and culturally safe health workforce,” she said.

“Over the years, the scholarship has supported many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who have gone on to achieve incredible things in medicine and serve their communities with distinction.”

Applicants must be studying at an Australian university to be eligible for the scholarship. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

To be eligible, applicants must be enrolled full-time in a medical degree at an Australian university and have completed their first year of medicine.

The value of the scholarship is set at $11,000 per annum, for each year of study for the remainder of the student’s medical degree.

Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association President Dr Simone Raye said the scholarship would help students “realise their dream” to become a doctor.

“AIDA is proud to have a memorandum of understanding with the AMA to continually work together to address the under representation of Indigenous doctors in Australia, and help to create a more inclusive and culturally competent healthcare system for all.”

In 2024, 38 applicants received the scholarship - the highest number of applicants in the scholarship’s 30-year history.

To learn more, visit www.ama.com.au/about/indigenous-medical-scholarship

Originally published as Australian Medical Association announces 2025 Indigenous Medical Scholarship