Member for Northern Tablelands Richard Torbay has urged the government to proceed with and properly resource a proposed Rural Pathways training model for doctors to work in rural areas.
Speaking in Parliament last week he said a similar model was working successfully in Queensland and implementation of a similar scheme in NSW had the support of the Rural Doctors Association and area health services.
“Although it has been clear for sometime what doctors need to do if they wish to become a surgeon, psychiatrist or general practitioner, there has been no such option for doctors who wish to be both GPs as well as work at rural hospitals,” he said.
“The shortage of doctors in rural NSW is long standing and explanations for this include perceptions of longer hours and lower incomes, availability of more attractive medical career options with clear pathways in big cities and the lack of recognition of rural medical practice as a specialty in its own right.
Younger doctors too are generally seeking a better work-life balance and have concerns, not only for their own careers but those of their partners and educational advantages for their children.
“A well-implemented pathway for rural generalist practice would help overcome some of these barriers by treating rural medical training as something of value and the trainees as specialists in their own right. It would also provide fair competition with other specialty training programs.”
The MP said there had been a range of strategies or solutions to encourage more doctors to practice in rural NSW but they had not been properly integrated. The most successful model to follow was the Queensland Rural Generalist Pathway which has proven highly popular with junior doctor trainees and Rural Generalists alike. In 2011 entry to this pathway via the undergraduate entry process had attracted 45 graduates, an increase of 15 additional quarantined Rural Generalist Intern training positions from the original cohort in 2007. It takes approximately 5 to 6 years to train a Rural Generalist after Medical School.
“Coordination and providing training to the rural trainees in the Pathways Program would require a government investment of around $2 million a year, a modest outlay in any terms,” Mr Torbay said.
“There is general agreement within the Rural Health Services that the Clinical Education and Training Institute would be best suited to coordinate the program statewide. There are also initiatives at the undergraduate level to promote rural generalist practice at regional university medical schools.”
