Invest in regional training to address workforce shortages

Extra investments must be made in programs that help medical graduates undergo specialist training in regional locations to address workforce shortages plaguing rural Australia, the AMA says.

On Tuesday, the federal government announced it would spend $114.2 million over four years to deliver a permanent increase of 80 new Commonwealth supported university places for rural-trained medical students from 2024.

AMA Vice President Danielle McMullen said these extra university places must be paired with more training opportunities in regional areas to clear a bottleneck of medical graduates who sometimes wait years to enter specialist training due to limited opportunities.

“Australia is producing medical graduates at rates well above the OECD average, and yet rural areas are still plagued with crippling medical workforce shortages,” Dr McMullen said.

“This is because medical students who train in rural Australia are often left with no option but to return to a major city if they are to complete prevocational and specialist training because of a lack of training places in those regional areas.”

Dr McMullen said without this focus on regional training places, the extra Commonwealth supported university places would not fully deliver on its intended purpose.

“Rural medicine is an incredibly rewarding career, because you can truly care for your whole community and treat a wide range of conditions, but this requires specific training and support,” she said.

Dr McMullen also noted increasing capacity to train in regional areas would require coordination with medical colleges.

The AMA remains concerned about a lack of reliable workforce data, which is making it difficult to form evidence-based policies to address regional doctor shortages.

Dr McMullen said an independent health workforce planning body that provides quality evidence and data to inform new policies was needed.