JULIAN Shearwin, Charleville High School’s captain, will have a chance to study medicine thanks to a UQ scholarship.

The University of Queensland is paying 50 aspiring doctors from regional and remote parts of the state to take the UMAT, a statewide test which can fast-track super-smart students into medicine.

Normally they have to do a years-long science undergraduate or similar to be eligible.

Here’s the rub: you have to actually front up for an exam in one of several locations on the coast, which can entail long travel times and a fairly hefty cost.

The scholarship – valued at up to $950 – includes the $250 UMAT fee and a contribution towards travel and accommodation costs where appropriate.

The exam is later this month, on July 27.

Julian isn’t sure he wants to do medicine.

“It’s an option,” he said.

But that certainly would have been more difficult without financial assistance, he said.

Associate Professor Geoffrey Marks from UQ’s Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences said the scholarship will help address the wider problem of the shortage of rural doctors.

“We need great rural doctors who understand the unique needs of rural communities and love working in them,” he said.