Health Minister joins medical students and industry leaders to address nationwide GP graduate shortage

AMSA president Jasmine Davis said the roundtable, being held at the Federal AMA’s office in Canberra, would include medical educators and industry leaders and be an opportunity for stakeholders to unite and address the current shortfall in GP medical graduates.

At the AMA’s national conference earlier this year the health minister said the low number of medical graduates applying to specialise in general practice was “the most terrifying statistic” in health care.

Ms Davis said if the downward trend continued, alongside the increase in demand for GP services, there would be a shortfall of more than 11,000 GPs by the end of the decade.

“Students can see the strife GPs are in trying to run a private practice with a shrinking Medicare rebate and more and more complex patient conditions.

“However, we can’t leave the GP medical graduate issue to be hopefully turned around with long-term reform of general practice funding, which is now recognised as a priority — we must look at what can be done in our medical schools now,” Ms Davis said.

“The critical importance of GPs in our community cannot be underestimated. I intend to go into rural general practice because I see it as an incredibly rewarding career option, but I know it’s going to be tough, and with few students wanting to join me in this career, I am concerned about the future.

“I am encouraged by the Government’s interest in fixing the issues facing general practice. Now is the time to address the reluctance to enter general practice.”

AMA president Professor Stephen Robson praised AMSA’s leadership on the issue. He said it was extremely concerning to see only 13.8 per cent of final year medical students had considered general practice as a preferred career path when surveyed at the end of 2021, a decrease of 16 per cent from the preceding year.

“Today’s roundtable, led by medical students, will look at how specialising in a GP career is presented in medical schools, including pre-clinical exposure; the curriculum; placements; emphasising the value of a GP as a career, and GP training pathways,” Professor Robson said.

“The AMA is ready to take action with AMSA through our plan to Modernise Medicare and we look forward to working with medical students, the government and the health sector on the outcomes of today’s roundtable.”