Doctors at a Cumbrian health service are funding a bursary scheme to encourage young medical students to get into the profession.

Directors of Cumbria Medical Services (CMS) Dr Martin White and Dr Fayyaz Chaudhri, have been running the bursary for several years and fund the scheme themselves.

They are keen to support Cumbrian teenagers in their first year at medical school and are willing to give a bursary for students who wish to pursue a career in medicine.

Dr Chaudhri said: “We started about five or six years ago for up to five people.

"The first students that went through the scheme will have qualified now.

"We have set a household income level of earning less than £50,000 for students to qualify for the scheme.”

The bursary will pay £2,000 each for up to five students, giving them a helping start.

It is paid in three instalments throughout the academic year.

Dr Chaudhri added: “It’s just a small kickstart to encourage people to do it and hopefully they will come back to Cumbria after they have qualified, but it’s important to get them in in the first place.”

Even though the last year has been incredibly testing for the health service, Dr Chaudrhi said that it was a very rewarding profession, whether in care or in science or both.

So far three students have submitted applications for the bursary and prospective students have until March 31 to get their applications in.

The bursary offered by CMS – which is an NHS service specialising in dermatology, minor surgery and ophthalmology across Cumbria – is open to all Cumbria Year 13 students applying for medical studies with a household income of £50k per annum or less.

For any students wishing to apply for a bursary in 2022, the deadline for applications will be the end of December 2021.

Students who wish to apply this year should go to the CMS website for the application form and return it to Anita Wilkinson on anita.wilkinson@cumbria.nhs.uk