About the initiative
The Murray–Darling Medical Schools Network consists of 5 rurally based university medical school programs in the Murray–Darling region of New South Wales and Victoria. It also includes a pathway program for students at La Trobe University (Albury–Wodonga and Bendigo), so once they have graduated, they can go onto study medicine at the University of Melbourne (Shepparton). The network is part of the Stronger Rural Health Strategy.
Why it is important
The network allows medical students to do most of their study and training in the Murray–Darling region of New South Wales and Victoria. This reduces the need for them to move to metropolitan areas and means they are more likely to work in rural areas after graduating.
Evidence shows that students are more likely to work in rural areas after graduating if they:
- come from a rural background
- undertake long-term rural training.
The network provides students with the option of studying and training in more than 20 regional and rural communities.
Goals
The goals of the Murray–Darling Medical Schools Network over the short to long term are to:
- increase the number of medical students studying in rural areas
- increase the number of medical graduates working in rural areas
- build new or expanded teaching facilities and extra student accommodation across several sites in the Murray–Darling region
- benefit rural hospitals through increased staffing and workforce sustainability.
Who we work with
The network consists of:
- University of New South Wales (Sydney, Port Macquarie and Wagga)
- University of Sydney (Dubbo)
- Charles Sturt University (Orange)
- Monash End-to-End Rural Cohort - Rural Health (Bendigo, Mildura)
- University of Melbourne (Shepparton), with a pathway for undergraduate students from La Trobe University (Bendigo and Albury–Wodonga).
The network builds on the Australian Government’s existing investment in rural training of health students through the Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training Program.
Contact
If you want to study medicine at one of the network universities, you can find out more on their websites.