Scholarships to PIF New Zealand Retreat

Eligible PIF members from New Zealand are invited to apply for a sponsorship to attend the PIF New Zealand Retreat being held at the RANZCP New Zealand National Office, Wellington on Friday, 29 November 2024.

Eligible PIF members must be:

a current or a new eligible PIF member from New Zealand
a medical student or postgraduate year 1 and 2 doctor or residential medical officer in year 1 or year 2.

Up to eight (8) scholarship places are on offer and include:

A pre-event welcome function the night before the PIF Retreat (Thursday, 28 November).

Registration to attend the full day in-person PIF Retreat (Friday, 29 November).

Financial support to cover travel expenses for air or road travel and accommodation for eligible applicants.

An opportunity to hear from and network with local Fellows and trainees, as well as meet other PIF members interested in psychiatry.

Morning tea, lunch, and afternoon tea during the course.

How to apply

Applicants are required to submit a written statement up to a maximum of 250 words addressing the eligibility criteria as follows:

Your interest and/or involvement in psychiatry and mental health.
Why you would like to attend the PIF Retreat.
How attendance at the PIF Retreat may benefit and/or influence your psychiatry career aspirations.

Please note that entries over the max length indicated may not be considered by the selection panel.

Please read the Terms and conditions before submitting your online application.

Apply now

Applications close on Wednesday, 30 October 2024. Late applications will not be accepted.

Terms & conditions

Eligibility

Applicants must:

Be a current RANZCP PIF member (or have their application pending), and be currently enrolled as a medical student, postgraduate doctors (PGY 1, PGY 2) or residential medical officer (RMO Y1, RMO Y2)

Demonstrate an interest in psychiatry and mental health;

Demonstrate how the PIF Retreat will benefit and/or influence their medical career aspirations;

Commit to attending the full day PIF Retreat program from 9.00 am until 4.30 pm (NZDT) on Friday 29 November.

To ensure equity of access of the PIF Program, a PIF member who has already been awarded any in-person PIF scholarship or bursary in 2024 (such as RANZCP Congress and RANZCP NZ National Conference) will be ineligible to apply for a scholarship to attend the PIF Retreat.

For the avoidance of doubt, PIF members who have attended virtual PIF events, RANZCP Faculty or Section Conferences or PIF Ambassador program are eligible to apply for this scholarship.

Travel expenses

For applicants residing more than 60 km from the RANZCP New Zealand National Office, Level 3, 11 Chews Lane, Wellington, travel expenses covered will include:

hotel accommodation (including breakfast) for one night (check-in Thursday 28 November 2024; check-out Friday, 29 November 2024); and

flights or travel costs* to/from Wellington, including taxi/ride share travel to/from airport to hotel.

*If applicants choose to travel by road or another means, this request must be submitted as part of the application along with the estimated distance for return travel. This request will be assessed and accepted by the PIF Selection Panel at its discretion. For road travel using a private motor vehicle, related commute costs to/from PIF Retreat including fuel, road tolls and parking costs will be covered.

Proof of receipts (e.g. fuel, parking, train ticket) will be required as evidence to claim reimbursement.

Accommodation and flights must be booked via the dedicated RANZCP travel agent. Details of the nominated travel agent will be provided to the successful scholars.

Applicants acknowledge that:

incidental costs associated with travel and attendance at PIF Retreat, including additional baggage, will not be included and are the responsibility of the successful applicant;

any additional nights’ accommodation outside of Thursday, 28 November 2024 are entirely the responsibility of the scholarship recipient and will not be covered by the scholarship grant; and

meals and other in-hotel entertainment or other expenses outside of the PIF Retreat program (e.g. minibar purchases) will not be covered by the scholarship grant and must be paid for by the applicant incurring that cost.

In the event that a scholarship recipient is unable to fly home immediately following the PIF Retreat event, PIF will work with them, and our travel agents should an additional night’s accommodation be required. This is at the discretion of the PIF program.

Selection

The PIF Selection Panel will assess the applications based on the application criteria and determine the successful applicants. Decisions of the PIF Selection Panel are final.

Successful applicants will be notified via email by late October and are expected to confirm their acceptance of a bursary in writing by the required deadline. Bursary recipients are expected to obtain any necessary approvals or leave they require from their university, employer or similar in order to attend the full program.

The PIF Selection Panel may award further bursaries, at a later time at its discretion.

Acceptance

In the event that a successful applicant is unable to attend, or a successful applicant does not communicate their acceptance of the bursary before the required deadline, the PIF Selection Panel may elect to award that bursary to another eligible applicant.

By accepting a bursary, the recipient provides their consent to the RANZCP to publicise the names of the successful applicants, their location and their university or workplace in RANZCP communications, including notifying a student’s university of the bursary award.

Photography and recording

Images and/or voices of attendees and bursary recipients may be recorded during the FPOA Conference program and in breaks for use in RANZCP website, communications, and media, including social media. If you do not wish for your image or voice to be publicised, please email pif@ranzcp.org.

Evaluation

All Retreat PIF attendees will be required to participate in a compulsory evaluation activity, including pre- and post-event survey as a condition of accepting the bursary.

Delegate Cancellation - Medical

The health and safety of conference attendees is our highest priority. The RANZCP is mindful of the health risks posed by COVID-19, and the importance of following official medical advice with respect to social distancing, practicing good hygiene and staying at home when unwell. The RANZCP requests that any delegate who is feeling unwell or has cold or flu like symptoms, or who may have been in contact with someone with COVID-19, not attend the conference.

If, on medical grounds, you are unable to attend the conference, you must contact the PIF Team in writing by email to pif@ranzcp.org.

Cancellation

The RANZCP reserves the right to cancel or postpone the course if deemed necessary and in such an event will endeavour to communicate the decision in advance to attendees to avoid any inconvenience. The RANZCP will not accept any liability for any inconvenience or expense incurred as a consequence of cancellation or postponement.

The RANZCP will only collect personal information from individuals when it is reasonably necessary for the activities of the RANZCP, and all such collection will be subject to the RANZCP Privacy Policy and any other notifications.