MEDICAL graduates are one step closer to realising their dream of becoming rural doctors, as they prepare to embark on Victoria’s first end-to-end rural medical program.
The students, who grew up across regional Victoria and NSW, will begin studying a Doctor of Medicine (Rural Pathway) in Shepparton next year. The opportunity to study locally has been made possible through a partnership established in 2019 between La Trobe and the University of Melbourne, which has been designed to solve Victoria’s rural doctor shortage.
Visiting Shepparton to congratulate the students, the Minister for Regional Health, Dr David Gillespie said, “The economic benefit is second to none. Local people can see it, they can reach it, it is achievable.” There are big hopes that more rural children will aspire to become doctors now that they are able to stay in the area they are from.
One of the 17 graduates, Isabella Trevaskis grew up on a dairy farm in Murchison and has been studying Biomedical Science (medical) at La Trobe’s Bendigo campus. She said, “Having that support base from home definitely gives you confidence that I wouldn’t have had in Melbourne. I didn’t want to move to Melbourne personally, so it’s been great to have the opportunity to stay local and be with country people that I get along with, to make new friends and new connections, while holding onto old friends from high school and everything else still around.”
Shepparton graduate, Gabriella Hill, who also studied Biomedical Science (medical) in Bendigo said, “I’m excited to help rural people in a rural community and I love the fact that we’re only a small cohort. I am excited for those relationships to build and to see where that goes.”
Professor Jane Gunn, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences said that investing in rural training now will ensure a more equitable medical workforce in the future. A $6.5M upgrade at the Shepparton campus is expected to be completed in 2022, including new student accommodation and expanded teaching spaces.
