ACRRM Welcomes new incentives to recruit and retain rural GPs

The Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) welcomes new incentives to support the recruitment and retention of rural General Practitioners (GPs) and Rural Generalists (RGs), announced by the Federal Government today.

The elimination of Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) debt for graduate doctors working in rural and remote regions, and the expansion of Distribution Priority Areas (DPA) for MMM3 and higher, are important steps to help address workforce maldistribution issues in rural and remote Australia.

ACRRM President Dr Sarah Chalmers says these new initiatives are part of a bigger suite of incentives needed to attract doctors to work outside the urban footprint, adding the College looks forward to more initiatives being introduced in the lead up to the Federal Budget which is expected to be delivered in March 2022.

"We are off to a good start," Dr Chalmers says.

"Imagine having your university fee debt paid off; what an incredible burden to have lifted at the start of your career!"

This incentive will come in effect from 1 January 2022, providing immediate relief for medical graduates who have an outstanding HELP debt for all or part of their qualification, have successfully completed their internship, be Post Graduate Year 3 (PGY3) or higher and received registration as a medical practitioner.

Doctors will need to have spent half their degree length in MMM6 - 7, or the full term of their length of degree in MMM3 - 5 to have all of their debt waived. They will receive partial debt elimination if they have worked for half the specified time periods across these locations.

"To have this come into effect so quickly is good timing for the College as it begins recruiting for Fellowship Training in 2023, under a College-led Training model," Dr Chalmers says.

"We are also pleased to see District Priority Area (DPA) exemptions for MMM3 and MMM4, come into effect from 1 January 2022.

"These exemptions are currently only available to doctors and practices in MMM 5 - 7 and we know that there are regions outside of this that are feeling the stress of not having enough rural GPs to fulfil their community's healthcare needs.

"The DPA enables International Medical Graduates working in rural areas to access Medicare in those areas, meaning practices will have an expanded pool of eligible GPs to recruit from.

"We welcome today's announcements and will continue to work with government to advocate for systemic changes that will attract and retain more doctors in rural and remote communities where they are needed most," Dr Chalmers says.