Health Minister joins AMSA, AMA, and industry leaders to address nationwide GP graduate shortage

Hosted by AMSA President Jasmine Davis, the roundtable, held at the Federal AMA’s office in Canberra on Tuesday 11 October, included medical educators and industry leaders. It provided an opportunity for stakeholders to unite and address the current shortfall. 

At the AMA’s national conference earlier this year the health minister said the low number of medical graduates applying to specialise in general practice was “the most terrifying statistic” in health care. 

Ms Davis said if the downward trend continued, alongside the increase in demand for GP services, there would be a shortfall of more than 11,000 GPs by the end of the decade. 

“Students can see the strife GPs are in trying to run a private practice with a shrinking Medicare rebate and more and more complex patient conditions. 

“However, we can’t leave the GP medical graduate issue to be hopefully turned around with long-term reform of general practice funding, which is now recognised as a priority — we must look at what can be done in our medical schools now,” Ms Davis said. 

AMA President Professor Stephen Robson praised AMSA’s leadership on the issue. He said it was extremely concerning to see only 13.8 per cent of final year medical students had considered general practice as a preferred career path when surveyed at the end of 2021, a decrease of 16 per cent from the preceding year. 

The roundtable discussed topics such as how specialising in a GP career is presented in medical schools, including pre-clinical exposure; the curriculum; placements; emphasising the value of a GP as a career, and GP training pathways. 

You can read our full media release here.