ACRRM is looking to overfill places on its Fellowship Training Program, highlighting the interest in Rural Generalist medicine.
Registrars enrolled on the Australian General Practice Training (AGPT) pathway have continued to trend upwards. With the recruitment process still underway, ACRRM is tracking towards an overfill of the target of 150 places by nearly 10 percent.
The College has also once again seen an oversubscription to the Rural Generalist Training Scheme (RGTS) pathway. The College had 100 places allocated to this program and is expected to exceed this number by more than 90.
ACRRM President Dr Dan Halliday said by nearly doubling our allocated places this year, we are taking great steps to fill workforce demand and providing specialised healthcare where it is most needed.
“The increase of applicants since the transition to ACRRM-led training is a sign of confidence in the ACRRM Fellowship Program,” Dr Halliday says.
“We’ve had sustained interest in the RGTS program as a purely College-led program, and that’s been increasing over the last two or three years.”
Dr Halliday said that the ability of the Fellowship Program to produce safe, confident, and independent Rural Generalists was a key driver in filling the rural healthcare workforce shortage.
“We know that students who experience rural medicine throughout their training are more likely to become RGs and serve the communities who are in most need.
“We also know that ACRRM Fellowship is proven as vital in ensuring medical graduates are not only attracted to serving Australia’s rural and remote communities but remain dedicated to them in the long term” Dr Halliday says.
Dr Halliday added that ACRRM was expecting a continued increase of interest in the rural pathway, with rural generalist medicine on track to be formally recognised as a specialty within the next few years.
“The College is focused on increasing quotas for 2025 to ensure we can meet workforce demand, and our vision of having the right doctors in the right places with the right skills, providing rural, remote and First Nations people with excellent healthcare,” Dr Halliday says.