The university placed a full-page letter addressed to Mr Gee in Central West newspapers this week in response to his accusation that it was taking an “unnecessarily predatory and negative approach” to training a medical workforce.

The head of the University of Sydney’s School of Rural Health, Associate Professor Mark Arnold, has not shifted in his stance that graduates keen to undertake long-term rural placements are hampered by the absence of “job opportunities”.

“We need a bigger rural medical career training pipeline for doctors who want to work in regional and rural areas, long term,” he said.

“Firstly, we need more intern positions available in rural and regional hospitals and we are encouraging the federal government to make this happen. Secondly, we need to extend the rural training pipeline, so that after doing their intern training for a year or two, junior doctors can apply for postgraduate specialty training jobs.”

But Mr Gee again rejected that argument.

“I think what we’re seeing from Sydney University and the other urban unis is desperation,” he said. 

“They know that they are losing the argument on merit, so they have resorted to spin and shape-shifting. They should stop trying to protect their business model and start focusing on the chronic shortage of doctors in country Australia.”

He said the current system was failing the bush.