Communities are benefiting from a national program which will allow doctors to remain in the local community while gaining additional knowledge and skills in specialist general practice.
The doctors will be participating in the Remote Vocational Training Scheme (RVTS) program, which is funded by the Australian Government.
Mafara Gweja is one of the doctors participating in the program.
Mr Gweja works at York General Practice in York and specialises in family and paediatric medicine.
“The primary focus of the RVTS program is to retain GPs in rural and remote areas,” RVTS CEO Dr Pat Giddings said.
“Doctors who train with RVTS gain access to the latest advances in rural general practice without having to leave their patients and move to another centre, a boost to both the community and themselves.”
“Many rural and remote doctors work in relative isolation and are in locations where the medical services would be substantially compromised if they were required to undertake specialist GP training away from their community.
“We know that without our support, many doctors may have had to leave to pursue career advancement.”
Around one-third of the Australian population lives in rural, regional and remote areas.
There are 31 doctors who have been accepted into the RVTS program this year, joining more than 110 other doctors currently in the program.
