Regional Medical Pathway offers new career choices closer to home
Lower cost of living, reduced commute times, welcoming communities; the benefits of regional, rural and remote living compared to that of a metropolitan area are appealing, so the movement to increase the number of medical professionals to these areas is the cherry topper in maintaining the allure to ‘country living’.
This is where The University of Queensland, along with CQUniversity and the Wide Bay and Central Queensland Hospital and Health Services enters, offering the Central Queensland and Wide Bay Regional Medical Pathway.
Shortly following this announcement, UQ commenced conversations with Darling Downs Health and South West Hospital and Health Services along with The University of Southern Queensland to join the movement to create a local Regional Medical Pathway.
They agreed.
Signing of the RMP agreement with The University of Queensland, CQUniversity and the Wide Bay and Central Queensland Hospital and Health Services
Signing of the RMP agreement with The University of Queensland, CQUniversity and the Wide Bay and Central Queensland Hospital and Health Services
The regions UQ's Doctor of Medicine will be delivered
The regions UQ's Doctor of Medicine will be delivered
The concept to deliver Regional Medical Pathways is a game changer that will not only secure long-term, locally-trained workforces, but will also deliver positive, sustained improvement in the health outcomes for the regional, rural and remote communities of Queensland.
UQ’s Doctor of Medicine program will be delivered in the four regional areas of Central Queensland, Wide Bay, Darling Downs and South West.
The pathway will improve accessibility for regionally-based students, allowing them to study, train, and practice in the regions they are from.
The implementation of the pathway will occur in a staged manner to allow additional time for UQ to complete and successfully implement the new UQ MD curriculum (commencing in 2023); seek additional funding from the Commonwealth; and plan for and implement the appropriate staffing and infrastructure required to support the full implementation.
As part of the innovative medical training pathway, each partner Hospital and Health Service will provide student placements, internship opportunities and postgraduate training places within their regional footprints including major hospitals, rural hospitals and multipurpose health services.
The hospitals will also continue to work with the nation’s specialist medical Colleges and the Australian Medical Council to extend their accredited specialist medical training pathways and enable them to provide more opportunities for senior doctors of the future.
UQ Rural Clinical School Head Associate Professor Dr Riitta Partanen says that enhanced access to a home-grown medical workforce will lead to better community health outcomes.
“Apart from growing our own junior medical workforce, the Regional Medical Pathway will allow regions to secure the long-term retention of GP and non-GP specialists, so that communities can seek the health care they need closer to home in a timely manner,” Dr Partanen explains.
“Our communities have an expectation that healthcare delivery will meet future demand, so with the introduction of this pathway, we can be confident that our future health workforces are equipped to deal with community growth and changing healthcare needs.”
This story is featured in the Summer 2021 edition of UQmedicine Magazine. View the latest edition here. Or to listen, watch, or read more stories from UQ’s Faculty of Medicine, visit our blog, MayneStream.
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