Study Reveals That Training Doctors in Remote Australia Boosts Their Chances of Working There

Policymakers have long struggled to find new doctors to practice in smaller rural communities, and the issue is only becoming worse. According to data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, there are much fewer doctors in small towns and remote areas of the country than in regional hubs and major cities, and that number is still dropping. Rural and remote doctors are more likely than their city counterparts to retire in the next 10 years, according to a Royal Australian College of GPs poll. Dan Halliday, president of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, said the new study supported a growing body of evidence demonstrating the importance of training physicians in regional Australia.

Although it is not an uniform practice, several colleges do place a great emphasis on rural training. Prior to their enrollment, medical students should be encouraged to think about rural practice, according to Dr. Halliday. "We'd like to see a continuum so that high school students interested in medicine may actually enroll in regional medical schools and have the chance to practice it while they're in training before continuing on the continuum to speciality training once they graduate." he said.

According to ABC News, they interviewed Jessica Traves who was a city kid, she was born and bred in the northern suburbs of Brisbane. Ms.Traves completed her medical training at the University of Queensland over the course of two years, spending one year in Hervey Bay and the other in Toowoomba. In their third year, all medical students at the institution are required to complete a six-week placement in a smaller rural community. The length of Ms. Traves' stay was doubled to 12 weeks, it was her own choice to do so. Ms. Traves valued the social aspects of working in a smaller community and the easier access to nature that rural Australia can offer in addition to the professional prospects. "The regions are just beautiful in terms of getting out into nature and exploring and so I really value that life balance that living out here really affords you," she said.

Ms Traves is that rare thing that health policy makers have been looking for — a city kid who embraces the life of a country doctor. Her training in rural and regional Australia was the key, according to Bruce Chater, the professor of rural and remote medicine at the University of Queensland. 

In the study, which covered 2,806 University of Queensland medical students between 2011 and 2021, 106 students made the same decision as Ms. Traves to prolong their rural placement. In comparison to their peers who did neither, those who completed two years of training in the regions were seven times more likely to decide to work in regional Australia. Nonetheless, even individuals who only completed the 12-week placement had a threefold higher likelihood of finding employment outside of the big cities.