The Ministry of Health has announced that applications for the Dr. Barbara Ball Public Health Scholarship will be accepted from this coming Monday until May 20.

The scholarship is offered for study in nursing, occupational therapy, speech therapy, maternal care, dental hygiene, dentistry, psychiatry, drug counselling, social work, occupational safety and health, environmental health and medical studies.

To be eligible for the $20,000 scholarship applicants must be a resident of Bermuda, hold Bermudian status or be the dependent of a Bermudian. Also applicants must be accepted for admission to an approved programme of study in an accredited institution or, if already enrolled in an accredited programme of study, must be meeting the minimum requirements for that programme.

The scholarship was launched by the Ministry of Health in 2008 to recognise the work done by Dr. Ball in her medical profession and the labour movement in Bermuda. Dr. Ball was highly respected in Bermuda's black community for shrugging off the societal prejudices of the 1950s and 60s – treating people of any race.

The late Minister of Health Nelson Bascome called her "a hero of the Bermudian people and one who has blazed a trail in order to make life better for those who have come behind her.

Dr. Ball served as a Progressive Labour Party Opposition Member of Parliament for two successive terms in 1968 and 1972. Among many other achievements, Dr. Ball was the first female doctor to practice medicine in Bermuda.

Applications for the scholarship are available at the Ministry of Health Headquarters and can be downloaded from www.gov.bm