While 160 new bush-based training places planned for medical students in 2024 will be a boost for regional areas, there's no guarantee there will be any positions placed in the Western region.

The Government is providing funding for an additional 80 Commonwealth Supported Places (CSPs) for rurally-based medical training. The six universities receiving the new places will also need to reallocate 80 of their existing medical training positions from city to regional training locations, resulting in the additional 160 rurally-based CSPs.

According to Dr RT Lewandowski, the President of the Rural Doctors Association, rural placements are a great chance for students to thrive and learn in a rural environment.

“Not only are there a myriad of incredible regional and rural locations in which these students can train, but the ability for students to access personalised, supportive and friendly training – provided by rural doctors and other health professionals with decades of experience – makes the training experience second to none," he said.

“To be able to increasingly offer end-to-end medical training in regional and rural areas is a no-brainer in connecting medical students closely to their communities and encouraging them to work in the bush once they graduate.”

When Western Plains App contacted the RDAA, they were unable to confirm if any of the new places would be in our region.

Dr Lewandowski warned that the additional medical student places must be supported by additional investment in junior doctor positions in regional and rural areas, so the investment in rurally-based medical student training is not lost by newly graduated doctors having to return to the capital cities or large regional cities to undertake their hospital intern years and postgraduate training.

 “If we want doctors to stay in rural communities we need to ensure we are offering the ‘full package’ and providing all the pieces of the medical training jigsaw puzzle – that is, the rural medical student places, rural positions for newly-graduated doctors (interns), and then the rural postgraduate training positions (once junior doctors choose the branch of Medicine they want to follow),” he said.

“In rural Australia, the critical workforce needs are for more doctors in General Practice and Rural Generalism (with Advanced Skills in areas like Psychiatry, Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, General Surgery and Emergency Medicine)."

Dr Lewandowski added that patients would also benefit from more Consultant Specialists in these disciplines providing their services – and also training for other doctors – in our communities.

“Part of the puzzle is also being able to offer Single Employer Models in rural locations, to enable junior doctors to retain the employment benefits they have accrued during their years of training in the public hospital system when they move into private sector General Practice to train as GPs or Rural Generalists," he said.

“The adoption of these Models would make the option of moving into GP or Rural Generalist (RG) training consistent (in terms of the retention of entitlements) with other medical specialty training programs and hospital-based medical careers – putting GP or RG training on a level playing field with them.”