Charles Sturt University (CSU) today launched its $90 million plan to establish Australia’s third medical school based in rural Australia.The University will seek up to $90 million from the Federal Government to establish the medical school at CSU in Orange, as well as funding for an Integrated Primary Health Care Clinic at CSU in Bathurst. The University will also seek the support of the NSW Government to open additional clinical places for CSU medical students in NSW hospitals. The University will cooperate with metropolitan medical providers to ensure the programs work together to address the rural doctor crisis.
The Vice-Chancellor and President of CSU, Professor Ian Goulter, said, “A new rurally-based medical school is essential if we are serious about addressing the rural doctor crisis.
“The Rural Doctors Association has estimated that Australia needs 1 800 rural doctors today, and while there are currently more medical students at Australian universities than at any other time in our country’s history, it is clear that domestically trained medical graduates are not moving to rural practice in the numbers necessary to meet current or future demand.
“According to General Practice Education and Training surveys, less than five per cent of domestic medical graduates from Queensland and NSW universities have chosen to enter rural practice in the last 15 years.
“Rural Australia needs enough rural medical students to replace retiring rural doctors and to grow the rural health workforce to keep pace with population growth and changing rural health needs.
“National and international research consistently proves that rural doctors are more likely to have come from a rural area; have a partner or spouse from a rural area; and have undertaken undergraduate and postgraduate medical training in a rural area.
“More than 60 per cent of Charles Sturt University’s rural on campus health graduates commence professional practice in rural areas.
“James Cook University, the only major dedicated rural medical school operating in Australia, has seen between 65 per cent and 70 per cent of its first and second graduating cohorts commence internships in rural areas.
“In 2009, Charles Sturt University approved its Inland Health Strategy to set out a clear framework for how we would work to address the critical shortage of health professionals in rural and regional areas.
“Under this strategy, the University has initiated a range of developments in central west NSW including: the development of a rural dentistry program based in Orange; construction of a multi-million dollar Dental and Oral Health Clinic in Bathurst; a major expansion of our paramedic student intake in Bathurst; planning for construction of a Regional Inter-professional Simulation Clinic in Bathurst; the consolidation of on campus nursing in Bathurst; and the introduction of physiotherapy and rehabilitation science in Orange,” he said.
The medical education program will be based at CSU in Orange with dentistry, oral health, pharmacy, clinical science , physiotherapy, rehabilitation science and distance nursing. This will allow CSU to use its existing anatomy, physiology, biology, pharmacology and cadaver laboratories at Orange in the medical program. The clinical experience program will be centred at CSU in Bathurst with paramedics, nursing, exercise science and psychology.
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