Faculty of Medicine welcomes first students from East Timor

18 February 2008
Some good news in a bad week for East Timor. The first two medical students to study under the new East Timor scholarship program have arrived at the Faculty of Medicine.

Diana Viera and Noeno Anuno Sarmento were among the 275 students who started in the USydMP on February 12. Their presence follows an agreement signed late last year by the Faculty of Medicine, which provides two scholarships each year for medical students from East Timor. The Faculty of Pharmacy offers a similar scholarship for one student each year.

“It makes good sense for us to provide these scholarships,” said Professor Bruce Robinson, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine. “East Timor is desperately short of doctors, and I believe we should be doing what we can to help them increase their medical workforce. The country is just on the doorstep yet young East Timorese are doing their medical training in Cuba or elsewhere.”

Before independence in 2002, most East Timorese undertaking medical training studied in Indonesia. More recently, Cuba has offered a large number of medical scholarships.

Both Diana and Noeno have completed undergraduate degrees in Australia. Diana has a Bachelor of Science from Monash University and a Master’s Degree in International Health from the University of Sydney. Noeno has a Bachelor of Medical Science from LaTrobe University.

CONTACT: BETH QUINLIVAN 0419 229 134