New approach to rural medical education needed

CSU’s proposal for a new rural medical school was designed to tackle the factors that influence the decisions of medical graduates to work in rural and regional areas, writes Mark Burdack.

Rural and regional Australia has been in the grip of chronic doctor shortages for the past 40 years.

Despite the best intentions of government to increase the number of domestic medical graduates moving into rural and regional practice, current policies have struggled to deliver an adequate solution.

A major focus of government policy has been to increase the number of medical students who are recruited from rural areas, since it is widely acknowledged these students are significantly more likely to become rural doctors.

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