Murray Darling Medical School not funded in budget
Dr Heather Robinson, head of campus
Charles Sturt University (CSU) vice-chancellor Professor Andrew Vann and La Trobe
University vice-chancellor Professor John Dewar last week expressed disappointment the
Murray Darling Medical School (MDMS) program had received no funding in the 2015
budget.
The MDMS is a joint initiative of CSU and La Trobe University to provide undergraduate
medical training from campuses in Bendigo, Orange, and Wagga Wagga, reserving 80 per
cent of enrolments for rural, regional and Indigenous students.
This is a particularly disappointing outcome for CSU Orange as the Orange campus will play
a key role in the operations of the MDMS. The strong health focus of courses at Orange will
be an essential element of the program’s aim to bring together medical and health training to
equip health providers with the skills needed to provide effective team-based care in the rural
environment.
The focus of the MDMS will be on rural practitioners and will utilise a range of strategies to
encourage and support rural students to undertake medical training and, when qualified, to
choose rural practice.
In the joint statement released last week the vice-chancellors said recent evidence showed the
current training arrangements were failing rural and regional communities and the
government had missed the opportunity to improve the supply of GPs and specialists in rural
and regional Australia.
Both universities have reiterated their commitment to continue engagement with the
government, as well as regional communities, health service providers and doctors about
evidence-based solutions to rural medical workforce shortages, and towards the delivery of
the Murray Darling Medical School in Bendigo, Orange and Wagga Wagga.
Further information about the Murray Darling Medical School initiative can be obtained at
www.mdms.edu.au.