The scholarships, together amounting to $7000, will help the sixth-year students with costs associated with undertaking trainee intern electives, which will move them out of their ''comfort zones'', in developing countries.
Ms Irving, from Feilding, recently travelled to Nepal and will then continue her studies in Kenya. Ms Hammersley, from Darfield, has been based in Vanuatu.
Sue Farry, on behalf of the trust, said the funding would help the students engage in ''innovative and challenging'' situations, to ultimately help strengthen the quality of rural health services throughout New Zealand.
The scholarship, of up to $10,000, can be divided between two candidates and provides support for students travelling abroad to rural medical settings.
Commenting in a blog on the trust's internet site, www.patfarrytrust.co.nz, Ms Hammersley said she had initially experienced ''culture shock'' in Vanuatu. However, she had already learned a great deal through her experiences at the Vila Central Hospital.
Ms Irving has begun her elective in Pokhara, Nepal, at the Green Pastures Hospital and Rehabilitation Centre, an institution specialising, in part, in the treatment and rehabilitation of leprosy, as well as dealing with spinal cord injuries.
Ms Irving was impressed with what was being achieved by ''thinking outside the square'' at the ''severely under-resourced hospital''.
She received $5000 from the trust and said her overseas experiences would take her out of her ''comfort zone'' and help her become a ''resourceful, adaptable and resilient doctor'' to undertake rural practice in New Zealand.
Ms Hammersley gained $2000 from the trust to help her spend seven weeks of her elective in Vanuatu. The rest of her time will be spent in Greymouth.
The trust will also provide more funding to enable the two students to attend a National Rural Health Conference in Rotorua in March, where they will discuss their elective experiences.
Electives enable senior medical students to experience another country and culture and a different health system for up to three months.
