Caloundra Hospital employee Sarah Fitzhenry has been awarded the annual Mike Kelly Academic Scholarship valued at up to $5,000.

Wishlist provides $100,000 each year to the Staff Scholarship Fund and this education funding is available for any staff member – full time, part time or casual, in any department. The Mike Kelly scholarship is designed to enable Sunshine Coast Health Service District staff to apply for financial support to participate in certain undergraduate or postgraduate degrees.

Scholarship winner Sarah Fitzhenry said she is undertaking the Australian Physiotherapy Association's two-year Neurological Specialisation Training Program in Physiotherapy. If she is successful at the end of the program, she will be the third Neurological Specialist Physiotherapist in Queensland and the eighth in Australia. She said this scholarship benefits her greatly.

“With the training program there is the requirement to attend many courses and travel widely to learn from different experienced clinicians, which can be quite expensive. So I really appreciate Wishlist and Mr Kelly's generous support.” Ms Fitzhenry said.

With the Sunshine Coast University Public Hospital opening soon, a new Traumatic Brain Injury unit will open as well as an expansion of the current neurological rehabilitation services. This is something Ms Fitzhenry hopes to be a part of and in the meantime she hopes to benefit the health service by sharing her knowledge learnt across Nambour and Caloundra Hospitals.

“I am really honoured to be the recipient of the Mike Kelly Scholarship and sincerely thank Mr Kelly and the Wishlist for their generous support.”

[caption id="attachment_419" align="alignleft" width="225"] Sarah Fitzhenry accepting her award from Wishlist Chairman Mike Kelly. [/caption]