Member Services
- Text Decrease
- Text Increase
- Print Page
GPs in need helpful in deed (The Age, letter to the editor)
8 October 2007
KARRIN Amodeo (Letters, 6/ 10) blames the Australian Medical Association for the system of sending newly arrived overseas-trained doctors to rural locations and other "areas of need". It is, in fact, a Government system, designed to tackle shortages in rural and remote areas.
For nearly two decades, successive Commonwealth governments enforced strict quotas on university places for medical students. The original reduction in the quota, introduced by the Hawke government, was opposed by the AMA, and the AMA has lobbied all governments since to increase the numbers. Increases in recent years will not bear fruit for another decade or more. Hence the need to rely on overseas-trained doctors in areas of need. Most of the overseas-trained doctors have become valued members of rural communities, and report that they, in turn, have found the experience rewarding.
Dr Douglas Travis
President
AMA Victoria
Victorian Medical Directory
Quick Reference Links
Networks
Preferred Providers
Next
Prev