AMAV VICDOC Winter 2024 - Magazine - Page 65
A L E X I K A N OV I C — PR ES I D E N T M SCV
I turned to my school’s curriculum
instead. A concept that was ubiquitous
throughout my degree’s teachings was the
social determinants of health model. At a
glance, this is a framework which aims to
classify the enablers and barriers to health
equity. For a visual learner like me, an
analogy which frequently stood out was
the deep-seated notion that as healthcare
professionals, we somewhat habitually act as
the ambulance at the bottom of a cliff, rather
than being the individuals who develop
the cautionary signage at its precipice. In a
way, I believe these considerations to almost
hold true when it comes to discussions
surrounding incentivisation strategies for
rural and regional workforce sustainability.
I concluded that policymakers have,
unfortunately, played the role of the
ambulances for too long, with poorly placed
solutions to these amenity reservations,
such as the Bonded Medical Program.
With some students foregoing any
regional and rural exposure in their tertiary
training, it’s unsurprising that a 2017 audit
demonstrated that less than 1% of 10,000
bonded participants had completed their
obligations since the Program’s inception
in 2001.
Upon further reflection, I began to
consider the microcosm which was my
medical school – a passionate and motivated
group of individuals who are seemingly more
inspired to serve more regional, remote, and
Indigenous communities than the average
medical student or graduate. Had we
somehow organically struck an appropriate
balance between clinical exposure and
relevant teachings that meant students were
actually motivated – without incentivisation
– to serve these communities in need?
As the last four years of my degree
passed, I’ve continued to reflect on this
topic. I’ve raised many more questions
of my own: Have we been too myopic
in our assessment of the drivers of rural
workforce aversion? Were we inadvertently
wasting many of our resources in funnelling
students whose apprehension could not be
overcome through mere incentivisation?
Or perhaps had we just started to shift the
balance in a meaningful way with some of
the more novel strategies which are yet
to have enough throughput to justify
their implementation?
Some key observations I’ve made over my
four years at a rurally-focused school which
may help navigate the optics associated with
rural amenity. Firstly, the rural retention
rate was higher in students of regional and
rural origin. Secondly, students at a regional
clinical school found themselves considering
practicing there more so than when they
commenced medical school. Thirdly, those
with a keen interest in general practice
or rural generalism were looking forward
to moving rurally pre-vocationally – with
this final element largely fostered through
encouraging and supportive university
interest groups.
What we can glean from this is that,
in the interim, instead of waiting for
other sectors of Australia’s government
to play catch-up when it comes to rural
amenity, schools should look towards more
sustainable forms of student recruitment,
that accurately reflect motivators for
rural workforce retention. As, while the
throughput isn’t currently enough to
substantiate a paradigm shift, the upstream
determinants of retention are certainly more
than just speculative. This holds especially
true for my own medical journey, as I’ve seen
just how transformative a great combination
of grassroots interest groups and a speciallytailored curriculum can be for demystifying
students’ rural amenity-based apprehensions.
VI CD O C WI NTER 2024
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