People in Burnie and the surrounding region are set to have much improved access to doctors with an extra 20 medical students a year to train locally.
The medical students will train at the University of Tasmania's new rural medical school program under the Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training (RHMT) program.
The RHMT has become one of the Government's key initiatives for supporting medical and allied health students to undertake training in rural Australia to boost our regional and rural health workforce.
The Government is providing 10 new Commonwealth Supported placements, and the University is supporting 10 placements on top of that, bringing the total extra students up to 20. As part of its investment, the Government is providing nearly $8.5 million to the university for new medical classrooms, equipment and facilities.
The boost for doctors to train, work and, ultimately live in Tasmania's North-West is part of a $90 million investment by the Albanese Government across Australia.
The University of Tasmania has $30.9 million in Government funding to deliver the RHMT from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2024. This funding supports medical, nursing and allied health training, as well as regional training hub activities. The university has two rural clinical schools located in Burnie and Latrobe.
Quotes attributable to Assistant Minister, Emma McBride (who visited the university today):
"This new medical program producing 20 additional graduates each year will play a critical role in improving the health outcomes for North-West Tasmania.
"At full capacity there will be 100 students studying medicine in Burnie. We know training healthcare professionals locally is the most secure path to more stable workforce in the regions.
"The Albanese Government is committed to strengthening and expanding the health workforce to meet the needs of communities In Tasmania and across the nation."
