A dental student with a passion for working in rural communities and ensuring her patients have encouraging experiences has been awarded a Royal Agricultural Society Foundation scholarship.
Forbes' Melanie House, who’s currently on her final practical placement to complete five years of study, said the scholarship would be an immense support.
She has had a long-held interest in dentistry, and in the many ways dentists can help people.
“I have really positive experiences at the dentist as a child which now, having worked in dental, is not always such a common experience,” she added.
Melanie is motivated to provide positive and encouraging experiences to her patients, allowing them to feel comfortable attending the dentist and reinforcing the importance of dental care to overall health.
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But studying dentistry is a really big commitment, particularly for this final year, which is where the scholarship comes in.
Melanie has already completed four years of study, based at the Orange CSU campus, with the final year mostly spent on full time practical placements.
She started her year with a 12-week placement in Dubbo, has spent 12 weeks at Nepean in public dental service, and has another three month placement to complete.
From there she’ll sit her final exams then progress through registration ready to launch her career in the new year.
Melanie actually took a gap year to set herself up for this part of her qualification, working at a dental practice in Forbes to both save money and discover she really does have a passion for her field.
“I did work placement at a local dentist and from there that passion grew,” Melanie said.
“I started working there casually, after school, then got a job for that gap year.”
It was a chance to test herself in the day-to-day environment of the dental surgery, alongside dentists who became mentors in that time.
They both inspired Melanie and gave her the confidence to pursue dentistry.
Nearly five years of study later, she’s still loving it – and remains keen to stay and work in rural communities.
Whether it’s helping someone who’s in pain, fitting a denture to improve their day-to-day experience, or working to improve their smile through something like braces, Melanie’s eager to help.
“There’s so many aspects of it,” Melanie said.
“No patient you see is ever going to be the same.
“There’s so much variety, there are so many different ways you can help people.”
The RAS Foundation Rural Scholarship program recognises students who are passionate about giving back to their communities through their chosen career, with the scholarship providing essential funding to do just that.
RAS Foundation Manager Cecilia Logan said this year’s participants were outstanding ambassadors for rural and regional NSW and commended their commitment to building a better future for their community.
“Pursuing higher education is financially draining, particularly if students have to relocate to an urban area or participate in unpaid university placements, which restricts their ability to work,” she said.
“Our Rural Scholarship program was created to help bridge that gap, ensuring students from rural and regional areas are getting the same opportunity as those living in city centres, and that those skills are going back into regional communities.”
