GPs in training jump by 34% in SA

South Australia has recorded a 34% jump in future GPs choosing to train in the state, according to new RACGP data.
 
In a sign that ‘general practice is recovering’, this year, 114 junior doctors are beginning their GP training in SA, including 60% more training on a rural pathway.
 
The RACGP has welcomed this spike, but said more could be done to grow the state’s GP workforce even further.
 
The college is calling for funding for overseas-trained doctors to train as GPs in SA through its Fellowship Support Program (FSP), and for them to qualify for registration as GPs in Australia via the Practice Experience Program Specialist program.
 
Currently, 34 doctors who gained their medical degrees overseas are training to be GPs via the FSP in SA.
 
This is compared to 286 in New South Wales, 250 in Victoria, and 217 in Queensland.
 
RACGP South Australia Chair Dr Siân Goodson described this as a ‘missed opportunity to supplement our locally educated GP workforce’.
 
‘Other states have benefited from overseas-educated doctors joining their workforce and training and working as GPs in their regions – SA should too,’ she said.
 
‘We can do this by supporting and incentivising doctors to train as GPs in rural and regional South Australia to meet our growing need for care.
 
‘If the SA Government funds this training, it will increase access to care in rural communities and reduce ambulance ramping and wait times at our hospitals.’
 
Dr Goodson added that with GPs more likely to stay where they have trained, this funding also has potential to expand access to general practice care in rural communities.
 
The latest RACGP data comes after similar statistics show the benefit and success of GP incentives in other states.
 
The Victorian Government’s recent $40,000 GP training incentives program resulted in 59% of recipients saying they were undertaking placements in regional Victoria because of the grants.
 
Additionally, 13% said they moved to Victoria because of the program.
 
Conversely, a ‘lack of investment’ in New South Wales led to the state ‘underperforming’.
 
With a Federal Election looming, RACGP President Dr Michael Wright is now calling on all political parties for funding to train an extra 1500 GPs over the next five years.
 
‘This will help ensure everyone has access to a GP who knows them and their history,’ she said.
 
‘Patients are paying more to see a GP in a cost-of-living crisis because Medicare investment hasn’t kept up with inflation, so patients’ Medicare funding no longer covers the costs of providing care. That’s also reduced the appeal of training as a specialist GP.
 
‘With significant investment in Medicare, we can increase bulk billing and reduce out-of-pocket costs for people who aren’t being bulk billed. Both these things are crucial.’
 
The RACGP is also calling for Government-subsidised medical places at universities to be linked to a target of 50% of graduates training as GPs.
 
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Fellowship Support Program GPs in training incentives rural workforce