Time is right for medical graduates to choose a career in country practice

AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said today that conditions are better than they have been for some time for medical graduates to choose a career in rural and regional Australia.

Dr Hambleton said there are more graduates coming through the system and more graduates who are locally trained and who have had practical rural experience as part of their training.

“Country practice is now a more attractive option for young doctors, but could be more attractive with the right Government incentives,” Dr Hambleton said.

“The AMA is urging the Government to adopt the AMA and Rural Doctors Association Rural Rescue Package.

“The package would not only encourage more doctors to work in rural areas but it would put in place incentives to improve access to doctors with the advanced skill set that rural areas often require.”

The package highlights two key tiers of support:

• a rural isolation payment to be paid to all rural doctors (including GPs, specialists and registrars) to reflect the isolation associated with rural practice; and
• a rural procedural and emergency/on-call loading to better support rural procedural doctors (including procedural specialists) who provide obstetric, surgical, anaesthetic or primary emergency on-call services in rural communities.

Dr Hambleton said that changes are also needed in the Government’s Australian Standard Geographical Classification – Remoteness Areas (ASGC-RA) classification scheme, which is currently the basis for providing financial incentives for doctors to move to the bush.

“The ASGC-RA scheme is seriously flawed,” Dr Hambleton said.

“A doctor working in the rural NSW town of Cowra is classified the same as a doctor working in the Hobart suburb of Sandy Bay.

“A doctor working in the central Queensland town of Moranbah is classified the same as a doctor working in bustling Townsville.

“There is no incentive for doctors to move to the smaller centres under this system.”

Dr Hambleton said more work needs to be done in providing an advanced rural training pathway for GPs, and there needs to be greater recognition of the needs of the spouses and children of doctors considering a move to country practice.

The AMA Position Statement on Regional/Rural Workforce Initiatives 2012 highlights five key priority areas for Government policy development that would help attract medical practitioners and students to regional and rural areas.

The AMA urges the Government to:

• provide a dedicated and quality training pathway with the right skill mix to ensure GPs are adequately trained to work in rural areas;
• provide a realistic and sustainable work environment with flexibility, including locum relief;
• provide family support that includes spousal opportunities/employment, educational opportunities for children’s education, subsidy for housing/relocation and/or tax relief;
• provide financial incentives including rural loadings to ensure competitive remuneration; and
• provide a working environment that would allow quality training and supervision.

Dr Hambleton said that rural and regional Australian communities have for too long suffered from doctor shortages.

“Country communities have depended on international medical graduate (IMG) doctors to fill the workforce shortages,” Dr Hambleton said.

“GPs have been backbone of rural health care but their numbers are dwindling.

“We have medical graduates coming through in greater numbers and they are being exposed to rural practice early in their training.

“The time is right to get the formula right to attract and retain these locally trained graduates in rural and regional communities.”

The AMA and Rural Doctors Association Rural Rescue Package is at http://ama.com.au/node/4136

The AMA Position Statement on Regional/Rural Workforce Initiatives 2012 is at http://ama.com.au/position-statement/regionalrural-workforce-initiatives-2012

21 July 2012

CONTACT:         Kirsty Waterford                  02 6270 5464 / 0427 209 753

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