The Federal Government has stumped up for 50 new medical places, sprinkled across eight universities across the nation – the latest top up in a significant expansion of medical education by the Albanese Government.
The additional CSPs add to the 358 new commencing CSPs the government is rolling out yearly, in a plan which will ultimately ensure there are an additional 1,800 people studying medicine each year, with a strong focus on building up GP numbers in rural and underserved metro areas.
“We want more young Australians to become doctors, and more of them to become GPs,” Education Minister Jason Clare said in a media release announcing the top up allocations yesterday.
“That’s why we are expanding the number of Australians studying medicine with these additional places spread across the country.
“More places mean more opportunity for young people and more doctors for communities that need them.”
The challenge, once they are trained, is to try to convince graduating doctors not to veer towards the leafy inner metro suburbs that their new salary will enable them to access.
The Government is also spending $1.36b over five years to provide additional training for health professionals to try to encourage (and prepare grads for) working in remote and regional Australia.