New medical training scheme for rural doctors
New specialised training for rural doctors by the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) has been recognised by the Australian Medical Council in an effort to provide a new stream of Australian doctors specifically aimed at rural practice.
ACRRM president, Dr David Campbell, said the decision by the national standards body to give Initial Accreditation to ACRRM’s training and education programs was a world first, and creates a new pathway for doctors to train in rural and remote medicine.
“The ACRRM program has been designed by rural doctors to specifically meet the needs of rural communities by providing training in diverse disciplines such as Indigenous and population health, mental health, emergency medicine, surgery and other procedural care, as well as providing doctors with the flexibility to work in metropolitan general practice.”
The ACRRM pathway also provides increased flexibility and choice for existing doctors, who can now receive new financial benefits and government and college assistance, regardless of where they chose to work.
“This decision will greatly boost the status and attractiveness of rural medicine to current and future doctors, and will assist in the fight for more equitable health care across country Australia,” Dr Campbell said.