Charlotte Benson and Lachlan Carty earn 2023 Albury Council medical scholarships

Albury High School's 2022 dux Lachlan Carty and Xavier High School graduate Charlotte Benson were awarded $5000 as part of Albury Council's 2023 medical scholarships program on Monday, May 29, to encourage them to return to regional communities.

Miss Benson wants to have lasting relationships with a community and feels the best way to do that is outside of the capital cities.

"Living in a rural area my whole life, I've experienced how it can vary to what you get in the city in terms of health," she said.

"Considering that I've had all these great influences in my life who have done so much for me in a rural area in the healthcare industry, I just want to be able to give back to my community and make a difference in my own way.

"With medicine, it's a big workload, so it's really great to feel supported by the Albury community and that they really want me to thrive as I go on into my studies."

Mr Carty's passion for sport and helping others could lead to a career as an orthopaedic surgeon.

"I'd definitely like to work regionally," he said.

"You're able to connect deeper with people. You might walk down the street and see 10 people you know, whereas the city you won't know anyone.

"You can make connections and impact people and see that impact."

Mr Carty said he's tried to find a balance between his studies and other commitments, which the scholarship will help.

Both he and Miss Benson are students at UNSW's rural clinical campus in Wagga.

Director of medical education at UNSW's Albury campus Dr Mark Norden said if doctors spent their intern year in a regional or rural setting, they were 60 to 70 per cent more likely to remain.

"If doctors train regionally, particularly if they come from a regional area and hopefully fall in love regionally, then they may actually stay regionally," he said.

"When I graduated in the mid-1980s, about 60 per cent of my cohort went into general practice, but that number now is 14 to 15 per cent.

"If you have a shortage GPs in general, compounded by being rural, it's at crisis level."

Miss Benson and Mr Carty were presented their scholarships by Albury mayor Kylie King.

"That community spirit and the want to help and support others I think is a wonderful thing," she said.

"We know the further you get away from the city, those health outcomes unfortunately are not so good, so it's great to see students so passionate about wanting to work in rural areas."

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