About the program
The RHMT program offers health students the opportunity to train in rural and remote communities via a network including:
- rural clinical schools (RCSs)
- university departments of rural health (UDRHs)
- dental faculties offering extended rural placements
- the Northern Territory Medical Program
- 26 regional training hubs that build medical training pathways within a region and guide students and trainees.
See the RHMT program framework for more about its requirements.
Why it is important
There are relatively fewer health professionals in rural and remote Australia compared with the rest of the country. This affects the health and wellbeing of people who live in rural and remote areas.
Health students who undertake extended training in a rural area, and those from a rural background, are more likely to take up rural practice when they graduate.
Supporting high-quality rural health training is an effective way for us to address gaps in the rural and remote health workforce.
Goals
The program aims to improve the recruitment and retention of medical, nursing, dental and allied health professionals in rural and remote Australia.
Meeting our goals
The RHMT program meets its goals by:
- providing effective rural training experiences for health students
- developing an evidence base for the efficacy of rural training strategies in delivering rural health workforce outcomes
- supporting rural health professionals to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health
- increasing the number of health and medical students who come from rural areas
- maximising the investment of program funds in rural, regional and remote areas to maintain well-supported academic networks
- creating networks and rural clinical training experiences that encourage students to remain in the community when they complete their training.
The program also supports metropolitan dental schools to offer extended clinical placements in rural areas.
Status
The RHMT program funds 21 universities which have created a national network of RCSs and UDRHs.
A recent independent evaluation of the RHMT found that:
- long-term RCS placements have tripled since the early 2000s
- between 2016 and 2018, more than 30% of Australian Government-supported medical students spent a year or more at an RCS
- UDRH-supported nursing and allied health placements have grown from around 3,000 per year in 2004 to more than 13,000 in 2018
- graduates with the most rural clinical placement student experience (average of 20 weeks) were working more in regional, rural and remote Australia.
Increasing rural medical training – Sector stakeholder briefing
We held an online sector stakeholder briefing on 12 May 2023 with the Department of Education about increasing rural medical training.
This briefing included information on an upcoming competitive grant round for 80 commencing medical Commonwealth supported places (CSPs).
This initiative includes more than $81 million in funding to expand rural medical clinical training placements.
We invited universities to send questions ahead of the briefing session. You can still raise questions during the application period through GrantConnect.
Learn more by viewing the webinar below and visiting the forecast opportunity on GrantConnect.
Increasing rural medical training – Sector stakeholder briefing
Contact
For more information about the RHMT program, contact:
- participating universities (if you are a student)
- our national office (for general enquiries).
Participating universities
The table lists participating universities and their associated rural training facilities.
Using the table
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The table lists participating universities and their associated rural training facilities.