The rural Queensland family creating change for a brighter state

University of Queensland medical student Ryan McMahon was awarded the 2024 Crawford Family Medical Scholarship – one of 233 scholarships offered as part of The Queensland Commitment, the university’s pledge to achieve equitable access to education.

UQ’s annual Giving Day, on 15 October, raises money for UQ scholarships to ensure students from under-represented backgrounds or rural and remote areas have equal access to higher education.

Mr McMahon said the scholarship was a buffer for his family while he completes clinical rotations and copes with increased study workloads.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed the transition to a quieter lifestyle and have found the regional hospital to be a fantastic opportunity to learn from the doctors we have here in Bundaberg,” he said.

“The scholarship helps in situations where I feel as though there is no opportunity to pick up more work in times of need, or similarly, where cost-of-living pressures feel overwhelming.”

Thanks to the Crawford family, Mr McMahon and many others like him have the opportunity to study medicine, a dream that may otherwise have been out of reach.

“I know I speak for others that benefit from scholarships when I say that assisting medical students with challenging circumstances no doubt benefits the broader community by enhancing the accessibility to study medicine for more people,” he said.

Crawford family’s quest for access to medical care for rural families

The Crawford family, from a cattle property in Baralaba, 150km west of Rockhampton, know firsthand the challenges regional life can bring.

When Robert, the eldest of 6 siblings, developed a brain tumour, his parents Gloria and Gordon spent months away from home having travelled thousands of kilometres to Sydney for treatment.

His brother Emeritus Professor Darrell Crawford, former Dean of UQ’s Medical School, recalls the financial stress caused by the need to seek care so far from home.

“They almost sent themselves broke doing it,” Emeritus Professor Crawford said.

Some years later, the family lost their mother to “an entirely predictable and preventable illness”.

“Mum died at quite a young age from something that would have been diagnosed and prevented in the city,” Emeritus Professor Crawford said.

“We recognise that regional areas are still truly underserved by medical professionals.”

The 5 surviving Crawford siblings created the scholarship to ensure more students were supported to study medicine at UQ.

“A university education is transformational at an individual level, but I think that you have to think of it in terms also of how that transformation helps to deliver for the whole community,” Emeritus Professor Crawford said.

Despite his own barriers to education, Emeritus Professor Crawford graduated with a medical degree from UQ in 1981, supported by his parents and their strong belief in education.

“The enormous sacrifices that mum and dad made to educate 5 kids from the country ingrained in us this belief – this concept of sacrifice for your children's growth,” he said.

Making education equitable for the rural, remote and under-represented

By 2032, The Queensland Commitment aims to raise $250 million to ensure 30 per cent of UQ’s domestic undergraduate students come from a regional, remote or low socio-economic background.

With $36.8 million raised from more than 4000 donors since its launch in 2022 and 65 new perpetual scholarships created in just under a year, The Queensland Commitment is already making a measurable impact, increasing access to education for regional and remote Queensland students.

The Crawford family is encouraging the community to get involved and donate this UQ Giving Day.

“The Queensland Commitment in general is not just about transforming the life of one student, but what that means for all of Queensland and what we can do for Queensland,” Emeritus Professor Crawford said.