By Aaron Cordy
ATTRACTING and keeping qualified healthcare professionals is one of the hardest things all regional centres face. For anyone who has had an extended wait time at one of the local doctors or medical centres and cursed at the wait, the simple reason is the lack of skilled professionals across all sectors, which is felt more in the country.
That is not to say it is all doom and gloom for the people of the Goulburn Valley. A recent study conducted by the University of Melbourne, under the guidance of senior researcher Dr Kristen Glenister, surveyed 4000 students after they completed work placements, and it showed nearly 70 per cent of students would consider living and working in regional centres because they had completed part of their work placement in a regional location.
The after-work placement surveys began in 2014 by the department of University of Melbourne overseeing student placements, but it was not until last year that they added the element focusing on where students would settle after graduation.
“That team sends a little questionnaire at the end of every placement to learn about things like how the student found the placement, whether they were satisfied with the placement, with the supervision they received, some demographic information, but importantly for this study, how their placement impacted their intention to come back and practise rurally once they graduate,” said Dr Kristen Glenister.
“We found almost 70 per cent of the students said that they would consider coming back to a rural location after they graduated. But then we found some really interesting things in terms of the chance that the students reported from the start of placement to the end of placement.
“We are thinking that students that come from a rural background already have a good understanding of the advantages of working and living in a rural location. People talk about rural practice having a high degree of autonomy and independence, a good broad range of cases and patience they get to interact with. Then there are lots of advantages with living rurally as well. Those students who come from a metropolitan background or who are studying at a metropolitan campus, they might not be aware of those advantages of living and working rurally, so the students’ placements gives them an opportunity to have an insight into some of those things, also an opportunity to dispel some of those myths.”
While the study has shown interest from students, it will still be up to local healthcare practitioners to provide attractive jobs, pay, and positions with career growth so students choose to come to the Goulburn Valley instead of remaining in Melbourne.
