Support eased "super stressful" time for physiotherapy student

Matthew Flinders Scholarship

Sam Lancaster says the Matthew Flinders Scholarship helped him survive after a five-week “living hell” when everything seemed to fall apart during his Master of Physiotherapy studies.

After completing his three-year Bachelor of Health Science at Flinders, Sam began a Master of Physiotherapy – needed to achieve his goal of becoming a physiotherapist.

Like many other Flinders students in allied health, medicine, and nursing, Sam had to undertake six full-time clinical placements during his postgraduate degree, at locations across the state, often meaning additional travel costs.

The length and frequency of placements can make it difficult for students to maintain regular employment necessary to support their living expenses such as rent, food, petrol and bills.

“I had worked a lot over the summer to save money to support me during my studies and my placements,” says Sam. “But then I had to pay some huge bills on my car, which I needed for my first five-week clinical placement at Lyell McEwin Hospital in Elizabeth Vale.

“The money really is a great help for a student like me. I will be forever grateful,” says Sam.

“It was a two-hour round trip every day to get to my placement, so I also had to pay for a lot of petrol.”

With his financial situation extremely tight, Sam was disappointed to discover he was ineligible for emergency government funding or JobSeeker.

“It was super stressful, a living hell. I couldn’t work while I was doing a full-time placement, but I was having difficulty actually getting to the placement because of the additional car and petrol costs.”

He still remembers the exact moment he found out he had received a Matthew Flinders Scholarship. “It was unreal, a huge relief. Honestly, I don’t know what I would have done without it. It really helped me to do my placement and stay focused on my studies.”

Sam is very thankful to the donors who support the Matthew Flinders Scholarship and says, “The money really is a great help for a student like me. I will be forever grateful.”

Since graduating at the end of last year, Sam has just begun a new role as a fully-fledged physiotherapist at myPhysioSA and is now steadily building his patient list.

“I’m absolutely loving it,” he says. “After five years of uni, it’s good to know the hard work has all been worthwhile.”

You can provide urgent financial assistance to help students like Sam by donating to the Matthew Flinders Scholarship.

Donate today

100% of your donation will support students in financial need. All donations $2 and over are tax deductible within Australia. Tax exemption number for charitable donations: 65 542 596 200.

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