The joint initiative of Charles Sturt University and La Trobe University seeks to establish a rural medical school that would train doctors in the bush so that they might continue working in the bush.

The proposal is in response to repeated studies that find rural and regional residents are denied proper access to even general medical skills and offers a practical solution to the problem.

So who could argue with that?

The long-running bid for a rural medical school took another small step forward on Tuesday when CSU vice-chancellor Professor Andrew Vann made the trip to Canberra armed with a feasibility study outlining the merits of the proposal that he presented to Health Minister Greg Hunt.

Most importantly, the consultant’s report concluded there was capacity within the hospitals and the wider health system to meet the clinical training requirements of students at a new medical school.

Proponents of the Murray Darling school have long argued the capacity was there but it can’t hurt to now have confirmation in black and white.

But, as Calare MP Andrew Gee told federal parliament last week, need and capacity for the new medical school tell only part of this story.

Perhaps the last major stumbling block will be the determination of the country's “sandstone” universities to block any newcomers in this sphere.

Some of Australia’s oldest universities trade on the prestige that comes with hosting a medical school and they clearly believe a rural medical school could threaten their position.

Mr Gee told parliament “the likes of Sydney University” had adopted an “unnecessarily predatory and negative approach” to opposing the Murray Darling school and vowed he would continue fighting to make it happen.

Opposition to a rural medical school is not about the health and wellbeing of country residents but, rather, about maintaining an elitist clique among the universities currently offering these courses.

But the clock is ticking and the rural medical school is getting closer all the time.

The need is there, the determination is there and the proof is there.

Now all they need is the money.