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More training places to secure future GP workforce
The places have been allocated to 10 universities that have demonstrated their commitment to primary care training.
‘Ensuring medical students see how rewarding it is to practise as a specialist GP throughout their studies is essential,’ says RACGP President Dr Michael Wright.
The RACGP has welcomed a Federal Government commitment to fund 100 extra Commonwealth Supported Places (CSPs) a year for medical students, with the plan geared towards boosting the future GP workforce.
The places will be spread evenly across 10 universities that have demonstrated their focus on primary care training with more rotations in general practice:
- Charles Sturt University
- Flinders University
- Griffith University
- Monash University
- The University of Melbourne
- The University of New England
- The University of New South Wales
- The University of Notre Dame Australia
- The University of Sydney
- The University of Wollongong
The announcement comes as more than 1800 doctors began government-funded training to become a GP in 2025, in what will be the largest cohort of future GPs in Australian history.
It is also the first 100 of what will eventually become 150 additional CSPs, with the final 50 to be determined in the new year.
The RACGP has been working with the Federal Government to determine how the places will be filled by the universities.
RACGP President Dr Michael Wright said these extra places for general practice-focused universities shows the Government is investing in training Australia’s next generation of GPs.
‘It is gratifying to see the work we have undertaken with the Government in
identifying which universities will deliver on a commitment to promote medical graduates moving into general practice, has come to fruition,’ he said.
‘The Government has made a commitment, as have these 10 universities. The end result is that more medical graduates will move into general practice and serve their communities.’
The Federal Government has also committed greater funding to
the Australian General Practice Training Program to ensure 2000 new specialist GPs are trained by 2028.
For the second consecutive year, applications for the program are oversubscribed, demonstrating the demand from medical graduates for a career in general practice, the RACGP explained.
‘We’ve worked with the Federal Government and Health Department to fill all available GP training places, for the second year in a row,’ Dr Wright said.
‘Ensuring medical students see how rewarding it is to practise as a specialist GP throughout their studies is essential.’
Federal Health and Ageing Minister Mark Butler said, ‘by growing our medical workforce, we are strengthening Medicare for decades to come’.
‘More training places will deliver more doctors to care for Australians in every corner of the country,’ he said.
In addition to the latest commitment, and subject to the passage of legislation, a demand-driven stream will guarantee Commonwealth-supported places for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander medical students from 2026 to increase the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander doctors.
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