Medical students warn that rural incentives need to reflect practice
The Australian Medical Students' Association (AMSA) welcomes the government's commitment to providing adequate training places but says that until rural doctors are compensated for isolation and procedural services, students will not consider rural practice a viable option.
President of AMSA Ross Roberts-Thomson said that the Rural Rescue Package, proposed by the Australian Medical Association and the Rural Doctors Association of Australia, will show students that the government is serious about rural health.
"The recent increases in training places, particularly in rural areas, will go a long way to educating students on the benefits of a career in rural medicine. But the government needs to support the range of activities rural doctors do and the locations they do it in.
"One of the reasons students become interested in rural and remote practice is the range and diversity of skills rural doctors are able to use. We need to see the government providing adequate incentives to practice these skills.
"Rural General Practitioners provide essential services such as obstetrics, anaesthetics and minor surgery; without which the health of rural communities would be seriously compromised.
“A Rural Rescue Package would increase the appeal of rural practice for students, and particularly entice them to look at rural medicine as a stimulating career.”
