Medical Education Foundation Will Award Record Number Of Scholarships At Online Ceremony
ROTHESAY – The New Brunswick Medical Education Foundation (NBMEDED) will move its celebration of its scholarship recipients online this year, in keeping with Covid-19 protocols.
The event, which will take place on September 24, is the milestone event of the foundation’s year.
“Going virtual this year is exciting,” said Darren McLeod, Executive Director. “I think we can create significantly more reach with an online event this year so that a lot more people in the province, whether they’re alumni, new scholarship students, their family members, donors, community partners, or just interested parties, will actually be able to watch this in under an hour and a half online.”
The foundation is providing a record 42 scholarships this year with $304,000 to be granted to future healthcare providers in the province. It is the only not-for-profit organization in Canada dedicated to providing scholarships to New Brunswick residents who pledge a return to a service agreement to practice here.
Launched in 2010 by Dr. Donald Craig, the foundation has since become an important part of addressing the shortage, awarding 130 scholarships over the years and growing every year to meet the increasing demand. Last August it awarded 41 bursaries for a total of $303,000.
“It’s creating the financial means for a lot of students who otherwise would not be able to go to med school to go to med school and reduce that fear of having to take on extra work on top of what is a heavy academic year in a learning environment,” said McLeod. “That was certainly in a lot of the notes we got for the ones who received our support – ‘thank goodness you were there.’”
“Everybody can actually watch this and sharing in it and enjoy it and understand what we do because it’s online,” he said.
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