Empowering women in medicine

Leanne Cheung is one of those lucky people who knew what they wanted to do early in life. Growing up in Appin, in southwest Sydney, she watched her mother, a community nurse, constantly helping people. Even as a primary school student, she was determined to follow in her mother’s footsteps: she wanted to be a doctor and benefit the world.

Leanne put her head down, studied hard, and with the steely resolution that has been the hallmark of her career, made it into medicine at UNSW.  That was in 1992.

Now an accomplished eye doctor, Leanne has wonderful memories of her time on campus. But she vividly recalls how daunting it was when she first arrived.

“There were a few students like me who didn’t know anyone, but a lot of others had medical connections and seemed to know what they were doing a lot more. They knew the schools each other had gone to,” she explains. “It’s a subtle thing, but you really do feel like you’re on the back foot.”

The desire to smooth the way for other talented young women from south-west Sydney like her prompted Leanne and her husband, Conrad Yiu, to set up the Yiu-Cheung Medical Scholarship.

“I wanted to make it easier for students who might feel like they are not the ‘typical’ applicant to consider studying here,” she says.

Not only does the Yiu-Cheung Medical Scholarship offer more than $10,000 a year for promising young women from low socio-economic backgrounds, it also offers a network of support to help them on their way.

Certainly for Cleo Nguyen, who arrived in Sydney from South Vietnam 10 years ago, the scholarship has been nothing short of life-changing.

“It really helps me to focus on my studies rather than having to work part-time to make ends meet in Sydney,” Cleo says. “And it’s given me a huge boost in confidence.”

When she graduates, Cleo would like to work in Vietnam and help the people there.

The scholarship is part of the University’s Gateway Admission Pathway, a program that offers equitable access to UNSW for students from low-SES backgrounds and educationally disadvantaged schools.

UNSW Chancellor David Gonski has been a passionate supporter of Gateway since its inception. 

The Federal Education Minister, Jason Clare, also applauded the program recently.

“This program, in a nutshell, is everything that I am about,” Minister Clare said. “Making sure that more kids, like the kid that I was growing up in Western Sydney, get a crack at going to university and build[ing] the career of their dreams."

One thing Leanne is adamant about is that the scholarship remains the preserve of young women. “I can’t tell you the number of times I was asked, ‘When will I get to see the doctor?’ We’ve come a long way when it comes to equality in medicine, but we’ve still got a lot of work to do. I hope our scholarship helps redress the balance a little bit.”

Discover how philanthropy-funded scholarships are enabling students to learn, grow and succeed.