Funding boost for ANU Medical School

The ANU Medical School’s rural and regional program has been boosted with $3.6 million in funding over two years to establish a Rural Clinical School.

The Federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Mr Tony Abbott, today announced the funding, which will strengthen the ANU Medical School’s already significant rural and regional health focus. It follows a recent Government capital grant of over $1 million to the ANU Medical School’s rural clinical program.

The ANU Medical School took its first intake of 80 students in February 2004 and in 2006 accepted its third intake of 84 students.

The four-year graduate Bachelor of Medicine / Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree incorporates a rural and regional program for all students from year 1. A small number of students each year are accepted into the Rural Stream, and spend their entire year 3 in a regional area.

With the establishment of the Rural Clinical School, the ANU Medical School will move rapidly towards having 25 per cent of year 3 students spending the year in rural and regional areas, including Bega, Cooma, Goulburn, Young and Batemans Bay.

Earlier this month, year 1 students participated in their first Rural Week in Goulburn, Cooma or Bega, where they experienced health care in rural and regional towns first hand.

In each town, students set up free blood pressure screening stands where, supervised by a local GP, hundreds had their blood pressure tested. Students experienced the variety of health care facilities and providers in these towns and were warmly welcomed, reflecting the close links the ANU Medical School has formed with regional communities.

The integration of the rural and regional program into all years of the four-year degree at the ANU Medical School set it apart, said Associate Professor Amanda Barnard, Associate Dean of the Rural and Community Clinical School and Head of the Academic Unit of Rural Health.

“We’re pleased with this funding announcement. It will consolidate our already excellent rural program, and allow us to become part of the Australia-wide network of rural clinical schools, which are committed to increasing the numbers of students spending their time in rural areas and building up rural and regional medical expertise and workforce. It will allow us to build significant infrastructure and attract staff to the region,” Associate Professor Barnard said.

“ANU graduates will have real, working experience in country areas – they are aware of the specific issues that GPs and hospital staff face from speaking to and working with them in rural and regional settings frequently over their degree.

“We know there is a shortage of doctors and specialists around the country, but this shortage is especially telling in rural and regional areas. We believe that our students should develop an understanding of the unique health care issues of these areas, and we hope, as do the communities they visit, that they also develop an empathy for the rural lifestyle.”