THE Joanna Morgan Jones Educational Trust hosted an opening evening at Dollar Academy, for secondary school pupils who are interested in studying medicine.

Held in the Gibson Auditorium, students from S3-S5 across Clackmannanshire, Fife, Perth and Kinross had a unique opportunity to learn how to take their first steps in a medical career.

Doctor Joanna Morgan Jones from Stirling – who was Dollar Academy’s head girl from 1987-88 – died in March 2012 at the age of just 42, leaving her husband and two young children.

Following her death, close family and associates set up the trust with the aim of supporting young people with an interest in medical studies – a lasting tribute to Joanna’s memory.

The annual open evening is just one of the aims of the trust, which also raises funds for brain cancer research, and provides funding for means-tested bursaries for students who wish to attend Dollar Academy for their final two years of secondary school, with a view to pursuing medical studies.

Trustee John Robertson, former rector of Dollar Academy, said, “When the trust was set up by family and friends after Joanna’s death, we all imagined her mocking the ‘fuss’. But, in just over a year of existence, well over £70,000 has already been raised, research into brain cancer has benefited, and the first two potential medics are completing their first year of science studies in Dollar Academy.” Last year’s inaugural open evening exceeded all expectations, with over three hundred pupils and parents attending from schools across central Scotland.

This year it featured three speakers: Mike Johnson, an Admissions Tutor at St Andrews University, fourth-year medical student Angus Forgie and Richard MacCallum, an A & E Consultant at NHS Forth Valley. Chair of trustees Angus Morgan, Joanna’s father, said, “As a young girl, Joanna did not see a career in medicine as a possibility. However, with the confidence she drew from the expert teaching provided for her in chemistry, physics and biology, she set herself the ambitious target of securing a place at medical school.

“Having achieved this, she went on to a very successful career, gaining membership of both the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Psychiatrists. We know that she would have very much welcomed, through the formation of the trust, the provision of such educational support for young people today.”