Fear of Going Bush; the Misconceptions Surrounding Rural Health Peta O’Brien - Australian National University (II) The state of rural healthcare in Australia grows grimmer with each passing year. Small towns are experiencing difficulties recruiting and retaining local doctors, and vital services such as maternity units are being closed down due to a lack of adequately trained staff. The extent of the situation was laid bare in 2019, when the Western NSW Primary Health Network (WNSWPHN) predicted that 41 small towns in the region would be without a GP within 10 years1. For years, the Commonwealth’s answer to this crisis has been to issue 10 year moratoriums of service for international medical graduates (IMGs) coming into the country. Under this legislation, IMGs can only access Medicare benefits if they work or train in ‘priority’ areas. Often, these are exclusively rural and remote regions. As a result of this policy, in 2012, 41% of rural and remote doctors in Australia were overseas-trained2. But, in 2018, the Australian Government announced it
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would be cutting 800 visas for IMGs over the coming 4 years3. With this announcement came an unspoken promise; the number of locally-trained doctors in rural areas would have to increase. It is now commonly accepted that the ‘rural doctor shortage’ is, more accurately, a geographical maldistribution of doctors. Australia has a sufficient amount, if not a surplus, of doctors — in fact, the number of medical graduates has doubled over the past fifteen years4. The problem — as it has always been — is encouraging medical graduates to move away from the city. Many initiatives have been implemented to try and achieve this. Medical schools have received funding to establish rural clinical schools, graduates have partaken in ‘bonded’ work schemes, and rural placements, cadetships and incentives have all been introduced. With so much work being done, how exactly did we end up with this current crisis and why isn’t the situation getting any better?
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