newy.com.au – The University of Newcastle will expand its medical intake and develop a pathway allowing rural health professionals to begin studying medicine without leaving their communities after securing additional federally funded places from 2028.
The university is one of eight institutions chosen to share 50 new Commonwealth-supported medical places under a $30 million federal program aimed at increasing the number of doctors entering general practice.
The allocation will be added to about 130 domestic medical places currently offered by the university each year.
Universities competed for the places and were required to show how they would strengthen primary care training, including through additional general practice rotations, in response to doctor shortages in rural areas and metropolitan communities with limited access to care.
The University of Newcastle’s successful proposal includes a pathway for eligible rural health workers to commence medical studies while remaining in their home communities. Further details, including the number of places, participating locations and delivery arrangements, have not been announced.
The initiative will form part of the five-year Joint Medical Program delivered by the University of Newcastle and the University of New England. Students undertake clinical training across a network extending from Newcastle and the Central Coast to the Lower Hunter, New England and Mid North Coast.
The joint program already lists a Regional Health Professional Pathway with up to 10 places a year for eligible nurses, physiotherapists, paramedics and pharmacists who have lived and worked in rural parts of the Hunter New England health district. The university has not said whether the Commonwealth-funded pathway beginning in 2028 will expand that stream or operate separately.
University of Newcastle Vice-Chancellor Professor Alex Zelinsky said the additional places would provide more opportunities for students to study medicine closer to home.
“Through our Joint Medical Program with the University of New England, we have helped train generations of doctors who have gone on to practice in regional and rural communities where they are needed most,” Professor Zelinsky said.
Pro Vice-Chancellor of the College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing Professor Lisa Wood said retaining students’ connections to regional communities was central to the plan.
“We know that students who train and spend significant time in regional and rural communities are more likely to build their careers there,” Professor Wood said.
The other places will be distributed among the Australian National University, University of Queensland, Macquarie University, University of Notre Dame Australia, University of New South Wales, Queensland University of Technology and University of Western Australia.
The federal government says it has now announced an additional 358 commencing medical places a year since 2022, which will support about 1800 extra medical students annually once the expansion is fully implemented.
