The new pathway sees 15 rural students selected to study the Bachelor of Biomedicine at La Trobe University each year at either the Wodonga or Bendigo campuses.
These students, along with 15 additional university-selected students, are then guaranteed a spot in the highly competitive Doctor of Medicine degree at the University of Melbourne, Shepparton.
The new "end-to-end" rural pathway, which will see the first cohort arrive in Shepparton in 2022, recently received $6.5 million in Federal Government funding through the Murray–Darling Medical Schools Network.
Currently, first year Doctor of Medicine students have to leave Shepparton to Melbourne then come back for years two to four.
But with the new stream, future doctors can stay in the region.
University of Melbourne Doctor of Medicine (Rural Stream) project manager Darren Grossmann said the 15 students who had already started at La Trobe last year would also enjoy new student accommodation and learning facilities at the Shepparton campus.
“We’re looking to build a new teaching facility and accommodation for 30 students,” he said.
“This new end-to-end pathway will allow students to leave high school and do the whole 10 years of training to become a doctor in the region and not be forced to leave to the city.”
Isabella Trevaskis is a second year biomedical student at La Trobe University Bendigo who lives on a dairy farm at Murchison.
Growing up, Ms Trevaskis, 21, spent a lot of time at the Royal Children's Hospital where she saw how pediatricians looked after her brother who was born with a physical disability.
“Seeing how amazing they were with children and how amazing they were at their jobs inspired me,” she said.
“A lot of people ask me what the advantage of studying rurally is because they believe city universities have the edge.
“Because of the smaller class sizes in rural areas, you have more one-on-one contact; they know your name, strengths and weaknesses — you can email them and they'll get straight back you.
“That personalisation is the advantage. And coming from a rural area you get used to the community banding together and helping out, so it’s nice for that to flow on to your university degree.”
At the moment, the new accommodation and teaching facilities are in the design phase with construction work expected to be complete by the end of 2021.
Mr Grossmann said he would ensure construction employed people and groups from the local area.
“The project will also deliver virtual anatomy tables so anatomy can be done in 3D without having to utilise wet labs and expensive consumables,” he said.
The University of Melbourne will select the 15 additional students next year to make up the 30-student cohort starting in 2022.