Twenty-seven rural students awarded scholarships between $2500 and $5000 to support their healthcare studies, addressing New Zealand's rural health workforce shortage.

Scholarships designed to grow the rural health workforce have been awarded to 27 students from rural and regional communities through a partnership between Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) and Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora.

The recipients include Lily North, from Katikati who is studying nursing, and Vanessa Claxton from Waihi, who is studying ambulance practice.

The scholarships, which range between $2500 and $5000, have been awarded to assist students from rural backgrounds continue their study in healthcare. The scholarships come from an overall funding pool of $90,000 provided to RWNZ by Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora.

“We had a huge level of interest in these scholarships, and I want to congratulate each of the grant recipients,” said Rural Women New Zealand Chief Executive Marie Fitzpatrick.

“It can be extremely difficult to undertake study from a rural community and anything we can do to make study a little bit easier is great.”

“While these scholarships cannot solve some of the challenges of travel and studying away from family and whanau, it is our hope they can help alleviate some of the students’ financial challenges.”

“We know New Zealand faces a significant shortage of health professionals in our rural towns and regional communities, so it is great to see recipients studying in a broad range of fields including in the areas of medicine, nursing, midwifery, pharmacy, physiotherapy and counselling.”

“I would like to congratulate the successful scholarship applicants and recognise their hard work and commitment to their studies,” said Dr Sarah Clarke, National Clinical Director Primary and Community Care at Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora.

Fitzpatrick said addressing the rural health workforce shortage is a priority for Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora.

"We are committed to improving health outcomes for our rural communities. I look forward to seeing these scholarship recipients joining our rural health workforce over the coming years as they complete their studies.”

Rural Women New Zealand and Health NZ wish all grant recipients the best of luck with their ongoing studies.

A list of grant recipients, their field of study and locations is here.