Coping With Increasing Numbers Of Medical Students In Rural Clinical Schools

Main Category: Medical Students / Training
Article Date: 02 Jun 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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There is pressure on medical schools to produce not only more doctors, but to prepare them for work in a range of geographical areas of need, according to an article in the latest issue of Medical Journal of Australia.

Prof David Wilkinson Head of the School of Medicine at the University of Queensland, and his co-authors, said the critical shortage of the rural medical workforce in Australia is continuing but there are concerns with the latest policy to tackle the problem.

"While medical student numbers might be increasing, the supply of clinical teachers and patients for teaching remains static. This challenges the traditional apprenticeship model for learning medicine," Prof Wilkinson said.

Research shows that by 2012, the shortfall of doctors in rural and remote areas could reach 1,182.

This discouraging projection is contributed to by a continuation of national trends such as a decline in the provision of generalist, procedural and small-town services, solo practices and a reduction in clinical hours worked per week.

Prof Wilkinson and his co-authors looked at the possibility of considering ways of offering rural clinical experiences to all medical students in a way that won't compete with a real-life immersion experience for students clearly intent on a rural career.

"However, this may risk excluding an increasing percentage of students who begin their required placement with no interest in rural medicine but change their minds by the end".

"These are the students we should not lose, as they are our future doctors and consultants who may consider a locum or longer-term career in a rural or remote location," he said.

The article explores the approaches needed to provide a good rural clinical experience for medical students - at the policy, organisational, student and teaching levels.

"It remains a primary goal of rural clinical schools to provide the most appropriate and practical rural clinical experience so that all students are able to make an informed decision about rural medicine," he said.

The Medical Journal of Australia is a publication of the Australian Medical Association

Medical Journal of Australia