Broome to host 20 extra medical students each year as Federal Government launch rural doctor program

An extra 20 medical students each year will begin training in Broome as the Federal Government launches a new program to put more doctors in rural communities. The Albanese Government will on Monday announce a $90 million investment to build medical classrooms, equipment and facilities in six regional areas across the country. The funding will also provide up to 160 new medical places — 20 being in WA — in a 50/50 split between the Commonwealth and six universities. Development of the new facilities and programs will begin next year at the University of Notre Dame in Broome, Deakin University in Victoria, the University of Queensland, the University of Wollongong in NSW, the University of Tasmania, and Flinders University in South Australia. The students will complete their entire post-graduate degree of six years at the universities — which have been selected through a competitive grants process. Health Minister Mark Butler said there was strong evidence that showed doctors who trained in rural and regional areas were more likely to stay and practise in those regions after they graduated. “When we came to Government, nine years of cuts and neglect to Medicare meant it had never been harder or more expensive to see a doctor, particularly for people in rural and regional Australia,” Mr Butler said. “The largest investment in bulk billing in the history of Medicare is making it cheaper to see a doctor and these new rural medical programs will make it easier to get in to see one.” Mr Butler said the rural programs would also bring much-needed economic and social benefits to the communities with the influx of staff and students living and working in those areas. Earlier this year, The West Australian reported that doctors in WA were calling for more support to be given in the short term to make it easier for people to see GPs in regional communities across the State. The Commonwealth and Opposition both agreed at the time that it had never been harder to see a doctor, especially in rural and remote towns, with more than $160 million invested to entice health workers to go bush through improved training and incentive programs. Education Minister Jason Clare said more doctors living and practising in rural and regional Australia was “good for the health of families and good for the health of our regional communities”. The Commonwealth is also providing $2.8 million in seed funding to Charles Darwin University to support it in seeking accreditation to establish the first medical school in the Northern Territory.