A new initiative is hoping to address the regional health workforce shortage by bringing future doctors on weekend trips to regional centres.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
On the weekend of Saturday, March 23, Dubbo hosted more than 30 "ambassadors for the future rural health workforce" as the final stop on an inaugural tour for medical cadets to explore country NSW.
Among the cohort on what will be the first of many trips was fourth year University of New England student Gina Bowden.
She said the trip gave her the opportunity to connect with other medical students from around NSW and find clinical role models working in regional towns.
"[The trip] has just blown away all the expectations I had - especially Dubbo," she said.
"Everybody was so passionate and enjoyed what they did and having the consultants and the executive of the Hospital coming to meet us and come out to dinner with us as well.
"It was really inspirational to see how passionate they are about living and working in these rural areas. Visiting the Flying Doctor Base at Dubbo was a really good experience too - inspiring!"
The trip was hosted by the Rural Doctors Network (RDN) and students also had the chance to visit health facilities and hospitals in Tamworth and Mudgee.
All the cadets on the tour are part of the Rural Resident Medical Officer Cadetship and Indigenous Cadetship Program run by RDN on behalf of the health department.
The program financially supports medical students interested in working in rural health on the condition they work in a rural area in the years after they graduate.
Program a response to parliamentary inquiry
RDN's Future Workforce Manager, Chris Russell, said the program was expanded in response to the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into rural health.
"[It] is great news not only for medical students but for communities such as Dubbo which will ultimately benefit too," he said.
"The cadetship program has been a successful strategy in recruiting and maintaining a rural medical workforce and the weekend trips allow cadets to get a feel for what life is like in regional and rural NSW.
"The cadets will be commencing their careers in a rural Hospital west of the dividing range next year, so giving them the opportunity to explore Dubbo and Tamworth... will be pivotal in helping them choose which location meets their needs."
While on the trip the cadets participated in panel discussions about career and lifestyle with a range of local clinicians and specialists.
They also took part in cultural tours and met with former cadets now living in the region and locally based Junior Medical Officers (JMOs).
Rural Flying Doctor Service chief medical officer Dr Shannon Nott said he hopes the tour will open the cadets' minds to the range of jobs available for them in Dubbo.
"We have a huge breadth of opportunities for medical students and young doctors," he said.
"[They can] not only learn from high quality rural and remote health professionals, but also have fulfilling health careers, going into areas where there's some of the most vulnerable communities that need high quality doctors, nurses and allied health staff.
"For me, being able to speak with RDN Cadets allows us to talk about why we enjoy our job."