CHARLES Sturt University (CSU) has received some promising news about the future of the proposed Murray Darling Medical School.
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The school is a joint effort between CSU and La Trobe University that aims to address the doctor shortage plaguing rural and regional areas.
Representatives from CSU and Member for Calare Andrew Gee met with Assistant Minister for Rural Health, Dr David Gillespie, and then Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce on Wednesday to push the proposal.
The meeting resulted in Mr Joyce backing the proposal, which has so far failed to receive Federal funding.
Mr Gee said he was “very chuffed” that the Deputy Prime Minister understood the potential of the school.
“He really gets that there is a shortage of doctors in country Australia and he understands the value of training doctors in the bush for practice in the bush,” he said.
The common argument against establishing the school has been that there is an oversupply of doctors, Mr Gee said.
He has vowed not to accept this reasoning.
“There may not be a shortage of doctors in Double Bay but there sure is in so many of our country communities,” he said.
“To fix this problem we can either take Medicare provider numbers out of the city and quarantine them for country Australia, which is not my preferred option, or try something that we know will work – building a country medical school across country NSW and Victoria.”
CSU vice-chancellor Professor Andrew Vann said there has been plenty of investment in initiatives to address the shortage, but none have fixed the situation.
Research has shown that students trained in regional and rural areas are more likely to work in them, he said, and the Murray Darling Medical School was inspired by universities where this concept has been proven.
“At James Cook [University] they are trained entirely in regional areas and two-thirds of graduates are working in regional areas,” Professor Vann said.
The Murray Darling Medical School would eventually cater to 180 students each year across three sites in Orange, Bendigo and Wagga Wagga.
Professor Vann expects it would take approximately 18 months to two years to establish the school after funding is secured.
He thanked Mr Gee for his ongoing support of the proposal.
