Rural medical schools are a breath of life for the west

April 10, 2015, 4 a.m.

THE man charged with convincing the federal government of the need for the proposed Murray Darling Medical School argues it would breathe new life into inland northern Victoria and western NSW.

Charles Sturt University and La Trobe University are seeking to address medical staff shortages in their regions through the proposed establishment of the Murray Darling Medical School. Photo: File

THE man charged with convincing the federal government of the need for the proposed Murray Darling Medical School argues it would breathe new life into inland northern Victoria and western NSW.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) and La Trobe University have appointed Mark Burdack to lead the next stage of their bid for a medical school, noting he played a key role in securing cash for the CSU School of Dentistry and Health Sciences and community dental clinics in five communities, including Dubbo.

The universities are seeking approval for a new medical school at Orange, Bendigo and Wagga Wagga campuses in an effort to address rural medical workforce shortages in the regions.

It would allow rural students an opportunity to study medicine without having to leave the regions for a metropolitan university.

Mr Burdack has taken up the reins of the bid with enthusiastic argument as to why inland northern Victoria and western NSW "must have their own medical school".

Firstly, he thinks it's unfair that students in major cities have a broad range of choices to study medicine on their home turf, as opposed to rural students who have "no local options".

"If we want a rural health and medical workforce, we need to give rural and Indigenous students more options closer to home," he said.

Original post:

Rural medical schools are a breath of life for the west

Related Posts

Comments are closed.