BUCHAREST—The Roma Education Fund and the Open Society Institute today announced the launch of the second year of a groundbreaking health and pharmacy scholarships program for Roma students and health professionals.
The Roma health scholarship program, “Leadership in Health: A Generation of Professionals in the Health Care System,” is developed under the auspices of the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015 and represents an unprecedented approach in Central and Eastern Europe.
The funds for the scholarship program are provided by the Open Society Institute, and will support 60 Roma students who study or intend to study medicine in Romania. The Roma Education Fund will provide scholarships to Roma students who are enrolled in medicine faculties courses or in nursing and midwives colleges, as well as to resident doctors, provided that the institutions are accredited by the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research. Students will be selected for scholarships on the basis of their academic merits, their professional motivation, and their leadership potential.
Scholarship recipients will be eligible for additional funding to study a foreign language or to attend professional conferences. The scholars will also receive tutoring and mentoring support, executed in cooperation with the Romanian Resident Doctors Association, in order to further their academic and professional goals.
All students selected for scholarships will participate in an advocacy training program, coordinated by the Open Society Institute, to develop their personal and advocacy abilities in order to effectively promote the right of the Roma to health care services. As part of the training, an advocacy camp will be held in the summer of 2009, organized by the Center for Health Policies-Sastipen NGO.
In 2008, the first year of the scholarship program, 35 Roma resident doctors and students of medical faculties and colleges were awarded scholarships.
Deadline
May 30, 2009
To Apply
The scholarship application package is available online at http://ref.rmusp.org.
Applications must be submitted in hard copy to the following address:
Resource Centre for Roma Communities (CRCR)
21 Tebei Str.
400305 Cluj Napoca
Romania
Attention: Mr. Robert Matei