Our work related to medical and health students and trainees

The Rural Health Outreach Fund (RHOF) supports outreach activities that improve access to medical specialists, GPs and allied health providers in rural and remote areas of Australia.

The Rural Health Workforce Support Activity (RHWSA) aims to meet current and future regional, rural and remote health workforce needs through workforce planning.

The RPGP helps cover the cost of professional development for procedural general practitioners (GPs) who work in rural and remote areas. This ensures people who live in rural and remote areas have access to highly qualified health professionals.

We are exploring new employment arrangements for general practitioner (GP) trainees to help build our future GP workforce. This model gives GP trainees more attractive employment conditions throughout their training.

The Special Approved Placements Program (SAPP) provides access to Medicare rebates for doctors without fellowship who have to work in metropolitan areas due to exceptional circumstances. The program has closed to new entrants.

The Specialist Training Program supports training positions in regional, rural and remote areas, and in private facilities. This helps to improve the skills and distribution of the specialist workforce by giving participants experience of a broader range of healthcare settings.

This initiative simplifies training pathways and helps doctors to gain fellowship of one of Australia’s 2 general practice colleges. It distributes training places to ensure a continued supply of skilled doctors in rural and remote areas. It is part of the Stronger Rural Health Strategy.

The initiative supports nurses moving into primary health care and encourages them to have a central role in team-based approaches to delivering care.

We provide funding to 4 professional organisations that represent sections of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workforce. This initiative is part of the Stronger Rural Health Strategy.

The Supporting Rural Specialists in Australia program helps specialists in rural and remote Australia access educational opportunities. It provides support and training via online learning programs, and grants to rural specialists to access training not available in their home town.

The Temporary Resident Other Medical Practitioners (TROMPs) program provides access to Medicare rebates for a few long-term temporary resident doctors who do not have fellowship.

The Advance Project supports advance care planning and palliative care for people living with dementia, through free training and resources for the aged and primary care workforce.

The Scope of Practice Review was an independent review led by Professor Mark Cormack. It examined the barriers and opportunities health practitioners face working to their full scope of practice in primary care.

The WIP improves access to quality medical, nursing, midwifery and allied health services in regional, rural and remote areas. Its financial incentives encourage doctors to work in these areas and support medical practices to employ nurses, midwives and eligible allied health professionals.

This review examined how effective our current health workforce ‘distribution levers’ are. These levers consist of policies and geographic classifications that are intended to distribute health workforce across areas that need them most. The final report is now available.