Walgett country girl, Isobel Pye, knows first hand the challenges a small country town faces when trying to access quality healthcare, which is why she is pursuing a career in medicine.
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Ms Pye, who is a first year medical student at UNSW, fell in love with the idea of studying medicine at the end of high school.
Her favourite subjects included Chemistry, Biology and Senior Science, so there was no doubt medicine was the perfect fit.
Ms Pye first noticed the gap between urban and rural healthcare while attending boarding school in Sydney.
"If anything, narrowing the gap between rural and urban healthcare is one of my true passions," she explained.
Access to quality healthcare was much more accessible to people living in the city, than in a rural area, and it was then that Ms Pye decided to help bridge this gap.
"It might sound like a cliche, but one of the biggest driving forces for me to study medicine is to help people," Ms Pye said.
Ms Pye is also the recipient of a prestigious scholarship, which she says will assist her with her studies.
"I was very luck and feel honoured to have received one of two 2014 Daniel and Helen Gauchat Residential Scholarships for UNSW rural medical students, that will help me pay for my fees this year at Phillip Baxter at Kensignton Colleges," she said.
Ms Pye says she has not yet decided where she'll end up working, but is knows it will be somewhere rural.
"Having only just begun my first year of study, with five more to come, I can't say for sure exactly where I'll end up working," she said.
"But I'm sure it will be in a rural setting."
Ms Pye is humbled by all the support she has received along the way.
"I'm so grateful for my country upbringing," she said.
"Growing up on a property, my days were filled with horse riding, both for pleasure and to muster sheep and cattle for Dad."
