NCHRF supports Adelaide medical students to gain unforgettable experience

The Northern Community Health & Research Foundation supports Adelaide medical students through the Adelaide Medical Students’ Foundation (AMSF) through scholarship grants to supplement their learning with additional domestic and international placements and conference opportunities.

In 2025, the four recipients of these grants chose to use this support to gain experience in diverse medical environments, ranging from emergency medicine and infectious diseases to cardiac subspecialties and neonatal surgery, in even more diverse locations - London, Thailand and Brazil.

Maia Kat undertook a four week placement in the Emergency Department of Srinagarind Hospital, the largest and first tertiary care teaching hospital in northeastern Thailand. Leo Bowley-Schubert travelled to Brazil to the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) in Belo Horizonte, where he learned from teams in UFMG’s teaching hospitals focused on Infectious Diseases, Cardiology, Emergency, and Endocrinology.

Two students, Tanvi Singh and Violet Spanner, spent four weeks at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London. Tanvi’s placement was with the Hospital’s Specialist Neonatal & Paediatric Surgery (SNAPS) service, while Violet worked with the cardiology team, seeing complex congenital heart disease cases, undertaking ward duties, clinics and working in the cath lab on a day to day basis.

Experiences such as these, early in a medical career, offer unparalleled opportunities for students to explore and experience their areas of interest, as well as gaining working experience with care teams using different techniques, and different healthcare models. They are, as Violet said, “unforgettable learning experience[s]”.

Here's what the students had to say about their experiences.

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Leo Bowley-Schubert

Federal University of Minas Gerais Teaching Hospitals, Brazil

“I spent time both on the wards and in an outpatient clinic ….I was able to see cases of a wide range of infectious diseases that are rare or inon-endemic to Australia… The biggest highlight of my placement, however, was when I was given the opportunity to parallel consult in the Cardiology outpatient clinic… Trying to take a history whilst simultaneously writing a clinic note in another language was certainly difficult, however it was incredibly rewarding.”

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Maia Kat

Emergency Department Srinagrarind Hospital, Thailand

“I … chose to undertake my placement in the ED for the dynamic environment, high patient turnover and opportunities to practise important procedural skills. This exposed me to a variety of presentations and enabled me to observe clinical decision making in a time-sensitive scenario… Overall, my overseas elective to Khon Kaen was invaluable, offering rich clinical exposure, opportunities to learn and practise procedure skills and insights into how healthcare systems function under resourcing constraints and the immense dedication and adaptability.”

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Tanvi Singh

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK

“I was immersed in truly high-complexity neonatal work … from pre-op planning through early postoperative care… A particular highlight was working with a consultant who also practises foetal surgery in Belgium, which meant discussions regularly extended into in-utero decision-making and perinatal strategies…

I presented a journal-club critique comparing open versus minimally invasive approaches in the first weeks of life, useful feedback that I’ll carry into my local work.”

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Violet Spanner

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK

“The placement was structured using a timetable provided by the Great Ormond Street Hospital placement team. Each environment provided different learning opportunities, and allowed me to explore a variety of cardiac conditions. Within my first few hours, I had seen congenital heart diseases I had only thought to ever see in textbooks.

Witnessing the way the National Health Service interfaced with international healthcare systems was also very intriguing, as many of the physicians I was working with did international outreach clinics in areas with poor outreach to paediatric cardiologists. I am now finding myself considering paediatric cardiology as a career option.

I believe that my experience in this complex field, and in such a major paediatric centre, will inform my practice for years to come.”