Dr Ann Vincent - 2025 Graduate
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2025 Indian Medical Association Queensland (IMAQ)-AMA Queensland Foundation Medical Student Scholarship (SOS) recipient and now James Cook University (JCU) doctor.
Final year medical student Ann Vincent has faced considerable personal and health related challenges on her path to becoming a doctor.
At the age of five, she was diagnosed with tuberculosis and spent two years in and out of hospitals with complications including meningitis and a slim chance of survival. Her illness has left her with ongoing respiratory issues and debilitating migraines requiring specialist neurological care.
Despite these health challenges, Ann remained committed to pursuing a career in medicine.
Just two months before she was set to commence her first year, she and her mother were forced to navigate a challenging home situation, which left them without any financial security.
Throughout university, Ann juggled multiple jobs to support herself while managing the psychological impacts of her experience.
These pressures contributed to a major setback in her second year of medicine, which has had implications that are now impacting her final year. As a result of this setback, her Centrelink support, which has been critical throughout her clinical years, is set to be discontinued.
“Now, in my final year of medicine, the long placement hours, having to relocate every three months for clinical rotations and ongoing health issues makes it impossible for me to find consistent work.
Ann said the scholarship will significantly ease the burden.
“This scholarship will be life changing, allowing me to independently cover essential living costs and enable me to afford my medications, and other medical expenses,” she said.
“It will mean I can fully focus on my studies and placement during my final year, ultimately allowing me to work towards a future where I can provide for my family and give back to my community.”
Deeply inspired by her own health experience, as well as those of her grandmother – whose type 1 diabetes presented a continuing struggle – Ann is determined to learn all she can about these conditions through a career in medicine.
“Studying medicine ultimately allows me to provide financial security for my family, understand the medical conditions that have impacted our lives, and help others overcome the same struggles I once faced and witnessed growing up,” she said.
“Graduating as a doctor is not just a dream my mother and I share, but one my entire extended family in India share too, as most of them never had the opportunity to finish high school themselves.”
AMA Queensland Foundation were thrilled to award this joint scholarship in conjunction with IMAQ under the SoS program, allowing the Foundation to provide more scholarships than the previous year’s fundraising allowed.
Interested in partnering witth us for our Sponsor one Student Program to help more students outside our fundraising? Reach out for a discussion at [email protected].
Update 2026 - Ann is now a graduate doctor
Ann's final year saw her experience medicine across different hospitals and specialties, undertaking an elective in Endocrinology in Toowoomba, a 10-week rural placement in Atherton, and multiple rotations in Mackay gaining experience in Cardiology, ICU, Emergency Medicine, Anaesthetics, Orthopaedics, Ophthalmology, Palliative Care and Radiology. The highlight of Ann's year was her rural placement, where she was able to step into the role of a junior doctor and take on real clinical responsibility alongside mentoring 2nd and 3rd year medical students.
"These experiences have been invaluable in preparing me to become a confident and competent doctor,"
Her goals for 2026 are to confidently transition from a medical student to a capable and compassionate doctor. She would like to continue to refine her procedural skills and gain a broad exposure to different specialities.
"I aim to pursue research opportunities with the goal of achieving at least one publication by the end of the year. I will also be commencing my master’s degree with the aim to finish at the end of the year. Overall, I intend to maintain a healthy work-life balance and enjoy my first year working as a doctor." she said.
Ann says the scholarship helped her "fully immerse" into clinical placements without worrying about affording day-to-day expenses, and will also assist her to relocate to Brisbane to start her internship.
"Thank you to the AMAQ foundation scholarship for allowing me to make the most of every learning opportunity in my final year and ease the transition into internship."