The Australian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA) has today called for more students from rural backgrounds to be accepted into medical degrees.

According to the latest figures from the Department of Health and Ageing, the proportion of medical students from rural backgrounds is lagging below the 25% government target.

The Rural Undergraduate Support and Coordination funding (RUSC) scheme provides medical schools funding to promote the selection of rural applicants. RUSC also funds support systems for medical students interested in rural medicine and rural placements for Australian medical students.

“Rural background is a key determinant of the likelihood a student will go on to practice rural medicine,” said AMSA Vice President, Ms Catherine Pendrey.

Of the 18 schools that received RUSC funding in 2010, 10 did not meet the 25% target.

“Medical schools engage in a variety of strategies to promote rural practice amongst medical students. However, AMSA encourages more schools to adopt a proactive approach to increase enrolment of medical students from rural backgrounds”, said Ms Pendrey.

The importance of rural background in determining future doctors’ decisions to work in rural areas has recently been reaffirmed by researchers from NSW and Victoria.

“In order to address the rural medical workforce shortage, AMSA believes it is vital that recruiting rural background students is part of a holistic approach, which actively supports all students to engage with rural medicine,” said Ms Pendrey.

Media contact:
Lee Fairhead
0439 040 333
publicrelations@amsa.org.au

Press Release PDF copy: 

20120201 AMSA calls for more rural medical students.pdf

The Medical Schools Outcomes Database and Longitudinal Tracking (MSOD) Project is the world’s first nationally coordinated project for tracking medical students through medical school and into prevocational and vocational training. MSOD is beneficial to medical students because it facilitates the evaluation of medical education programs and assists workforce planning. AMSA is an official stakeholder of this project, of which 18 Australian medical schools are involved. Make sure you take part when the project is administered at your university.

The Australian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA) this week rejected the suggestion that medical students should be conscripted to work in excess of 3 years in rural areas.

In the wake of the Senate Committee Inquiry into the Factors Affecting the Supply of Health Services and Medical Professionals in Rural Areas, some have called for newly graduated doctors to be involuntarily bonded to work in rural areas following graduation.

“AMSA is concerned that the shortage of medical professionals is affecting the ability of people in rural and remote areas to access health services, but conscripting students is not the answer,” said AMSA Vice President External, Ms Catherine Pendrey.

AMSA is strongly opposed to the current Bonded Medical Places Scheme (BMPS), which mandates 25% of Commonwealth Supported Place students to work in designated rural, remote and outer metropolitan areas following graduation.

“In the past many students recruited under the BMPS have either bought their way out of the scheme or left rural areas once they had completed their return of service obligations,” said Ms Pendrey.

“Instead, what we know does work is recruiting students from rural backgrounds and providing all students with positive exposure to rural clinical practice. Well supported and incentivised training opportunities throughout all levels of medical school, and beyond, are essential to increasing the requisite enthusiasm and commitment to working in rural practice.

“AMSA believes it’s critical to address the rural doctor shortage, but it will do no good to invest tax payers’ money in bonded schemes that isolate medical students and do not help rural populations,” said Ms Pendrey.

Press Release PDF copy: 

20120120 AMSA rejects suggestion of mandatory rural service for medical students.pdf

The Australian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA) has welcomed the identification of medicine as a high priority area of Government underfunding, following the release of the Final Report of the Lomax-Smith Higher Education Base Funding Review.

AMSA spokesperson Catherine Pendrey said that the report highlighted an urgent need to increase funding for medicine in order to maintain the quality of basic medical education in Australia, but she said that this should not come from student contributions.

“AMSA opposes the proposed increase to 40 per cent student contributions which would lead to a significant financial burden on students.  Medicine is already listed in the most expensive bracket of university courses, with students paying over $9,000 in fees annually.

“This goes against the recommendations of the Bradley Review, and recommendation 29 of this report, aimed at improving and maintaining equity of access to students from disadvantaged, rural and remote backgrounds,” Ms Pendrey said.

Released in December, the report highlighted the chronic underfunding of medical education, both in terms of resourcing and international comparators.  Figures show that combined student and Government funding of $28,622 per student in 2011 sits well below the Medical Deans estimated cost of over $50,000 per student.

“The report reveals some of the cost pressures placed on students and Universities following the doubling of medical student numbers in the past decade and AMSA implores the Government to urgently increase funding to ensure standards of medical education in Australia continue to be world class,” Ms Pendrey said.

Media contact:
Lee Fairhead
0439 040 333
publicrelations@amsa.org.au

Press Release PDF copy: 

20120119 AMSA welcomes recognition of significant underfunding in Medical Education.pdf

Edition 2 of the 2011 Panacea, AMSA's biannual magazine, has been released.

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