There are 17 university graduates from La Trobe University enrolled in the University of Melbourne’s Doctor of Medicine (Rural Pathway) course in Shepparton, commencing in 2022.
It is the first time the post-graduate degree has been offered in Shepparton, and is part of a partnership between the two universities to train more doctors in regional Victoria.
Federal Regional Health Minister David Gillespie said offering the degree in regional areas was the first step to addressing the shortage of doctors in regional and rural Victoria.
“This is a pipeline to get rural and regional students trained in the regions from the beginning to end here in Shepparton,” he said.
“This is part of the solution.”
Fifteen Bachelor of Biomedical Science graduates from La Trobe Univesity’s Bendigo and Albury-Wodonga campuses were guaranteed entry into the first Shepparton cohort in 2019 when federal funding for the Rural Medical Pathway Program was secured.
One of the students selected was Murchison resident Isabella Trevaskis.
She said there were plenty of benefits to studying to become a doctor in rural areas.
“I think compared to the city, we get a lot more hands-on experience,” she said.
“You just get more opportunities, and you see more things.”
Shepparton local Gabriella Hill said she accepted the offer to study medicine in her home town to stay close to family and friends and keep her career in regional Australia.
“To stay around everyone that I love and care about is so much easier and nicer,” she said.
“And the fact that the Shepparton hospital just got a huge upgrade, that’s really exciting too.”
Funding for the program also included a $6.5 million campus upgrade with new student accommodation and extra teaching spaces to be completed in 2022.
La Trobe University vice-chancellor Professor John Dewar said the rural medicine program had been in the works since 2012, and aimed to keep young doctors in the regions.
“It allows regional students to study in the regions to become doctors,” he said.
“It greatly increases the chances that they will live and work and have careers in regional Victoria.”
A total of 30 students will be welcomed next year to study medicine at the University of Melbourne’s Shepparton campus.
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