Record influx of new doctors mitigating GP shortage

New doctors are pouring into Australia’s healthcare system at record-breaking rates, with 9490 registered to practise in 2023–24 alone.
 
And it is GPs who look set to benefit most from this doctor injection, with more than 1750 offers expected to be made to junior doctors to begin general practice training next year.
 
This is expected to lead to an intake up to 10% larger than 2024.
 
That is according to new Department of Health and Aged Care (DoHAC) statistics, released on Friday, which show promising signs of a reversal on Australia’s doctor shortage.
 
RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins welcomed the boost in GP numbers, saying that now the Government must place general practice as the centre of the healthcare system.
 
‘Who doesn’t want more GPs? The turnaround and changing narrative about the importance and value of general practice is what’s changed,’ she told newsGP.
 
‘Being able to witness GPs taking ownership of their profession and being the change has been incredibly satisfying, and each and every GP has the opportunity to be an advocate for their profession and their patients, and I’m now seeing GPs finding their voice.
 
‘Since the RACGP took back general practice training, we’ve worked really hard to change that narrative and place general practice as a solution to the healthcare crisis.
 
‘That, and last year’s Federal Budget, which was the biggest investment in general practice for a long time, have been the key drivers of these green shoots.’
 
This year, more than 1600 doctors accepted a place on a government-funded training program to become a GP or rural GP, up 13% from the year before.
 
Additionally, both the RACGP and the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) are expecting to fill all the placements they have available this year.
 
Health and Aged Care Minister Mark Butler said this renewed interest for both internationally and locally trained medical professionals shows a ‘big vote of confidence from doctors’.
 
‘We know the difficulty that too many Australians face getting in to see a doctor and we are doing everything we can to attract, train and retain more doctors,’ he said.
 
‘More doctors are joining the health system, more doctors are training to become GPs, and more medical graduates are aspiring to become GPs since the Albanese Government was elected.’
 
According to the DoHAC, one new doctor joined the healthcare every hour last year as more doctors joined in the last two years than at any time in the past decade.
 
Of these, 5431 were overseas-trained doctors newly registered to practise in Australia, up 80% than in 2018–19.
 
This surge in international medical graduates (IMGs) comes as the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) kicked off its new expedited pathway program for GPs on 21 October.
 
This controversial program allows streamlined registration to with a recent Irish College of General Practitioners or Royal College of General Practitioners membership, or a Fellowship of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners.
 
The change has long drawn the ire of the RACGP, which has raised concerns about its bypassing of the medical colleges.
 
However, Dr Higgins said moving forward, governments and decisionmakers must ensure these additional doctors are enabled to work in areas of most demand.
 
‘Every Australian deserves access to good quality general practice, irrespective of their postcode,’ she said.
 
‘Supply is one part of the issue, but so is demand, and now we really need to be looking at how we are best using general practice.’
 
‘What needs to change now is dollars, because general practice funding has dropped and to have a strong primary care sector, to keep people out of hospital, we need funding.’
 
Log in below to join the conversation.

general practice GP shortage IMGs international medical graduates junior doctors Mark Butler