The University of Wollongong’s Pro Vice-Chancellor, Professor Don Iverson, has called for reform after claiming that international medical students are likely to head back overseas because of a shortage of training positions and uncertainty regarding achieving residency status.

 

Professor Iverson said that despite growing shortages od doctors in rural and remote areas, federal and state authorities are failing to implement policy that would reverse the growing shortage.

 

Professor Iverson says overseas trained doctors will inevitably be required to help meet workforce shortages in Australia’s non-metropolitan areas as they are in the US, Canada and the UK.

 

“However, at the same time more needs be done to encourage local and international students who are trained in Australia to work in regional, rural and remote areas to help overcome the critical shortages,” Professor Iverson said.

 

Currently, more than 15 per cent of medical students are from overseas and many would stay in Australia if state and Commonwealth policies encouraged and facilitated them to do so, he said.

 

“In many cases these locally trained doctors are discriminated against (compared with their peers) in internship opportunities and subsequent opportunities to enter into general practice or specialty training.

 

“These students could make a significant contribution towards the resolution of the medical workforce problem, and there would be no concern regarding their ability to practice medicine here as all of their training has occurred in an Australian accredited program.”