STEPPING IN AND STEPPING UP EXPANSION OF SPECIALIST TRAINING IN REGIONAL, RURAL, AND REMOTE AREAS Coordinated effort across all medical colleges to address critical shortage of specialists outside major cities
With
Associate Professor Sanjay Jeganathan, Chair
Council of Presidents of Medical Colleges (CPMC)
AUSTRALIAN HEALTH JOURNAL SEGMENT
Filmed online | April 2025
Australia’s medical colleges are increasing their commitment to regional healthcare by expanding specialist training in regional, rural, and remote areas.
The Council of Presidents of Medical Colleges (CPMC) is Australia’s peak body representing specialist medical colleges.
Associate Professor Sanjay Jeganathan, Chair of the Council of Presidents of Medical Colleges (CPMC) states, ”Our rural and regional communities deserve the same access to specialist care as our cities. We’re seeing real results from our colleges’ commitment to rural training.”
A/Prof Jeganathan spoke to Australian Health Journal about progress by Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM), Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) and Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA).
This expansion reflects a coordinated effort across all medical colleges to address the critical shortage of specialists outside major cities.
The expansion comes as projections show Australia could face a shortage of 5,000 doctors by 2030. While overseas-trained specialists help fill immediate gaps, medical colleges are prioritising sustainable solutions through local training programs.
“We’re building lasting change by training specialists who understand regional communities and are more likely to stay long-term,” said A/Prof Jeganathan.
Source: Written by AUDIENCED from CPMC media release (February 2025)
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ARCS Annual Conference 2019
Earlier this month, ARCS Australia held it’s Annual Conference at the International Convention Centre Sydney – ICC Sydney, with the theme of putting patients at the centre of healthcare. Uniquely, the conference included a number of patients who attended, presented or were referenced.
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Smart technology in wound care
Throughout her journey around wound care, Santosh Kaur was frustrated to see the simple gaps in wound care resulting in negative patient outcomes. Santosh is the founder of SmartHeal which launched in 2020.
SmartHeal replaces the nurses taking cumbersome manual measurements and manual sharing of important wound data with a no touch technique. It aims for healthcare professionals to have live remote access to wound data, make wound assessments and assist with speech to text notes thus saving time, cost and people. SmartHeal also aims to assist healthcare professionals in providing optimum wound care by analysing the wound tissue for infection, moisture and providing suggestions for suitable dressing.
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Sovereign capability uplifted
Skilled labour, in particular skilled in the manufacture of MTP products, namely competency in Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), was identified as one of the key priorities, according to Jarrod Belcher, Director of the REDI Program at MTPConnect. Through a competitive process, MTPConnect selected additional industry training providers to deliver new programs addressing key skills gaps in the sector workforce.
Launched in September 2022, one of these programs is GMP Uplift developed by the Centre for Biopharmaceutical Excellence (CBE). CBE bring experience across large and small Biologics, Pharmaceuticals and Regenerative Medicine companies, both in consulting and GMP related enterprise training. CBE staff also have extensive experience in GMP operations, compliance, auditing and QMS design, a wide industry network for guest lecturers and readily available case studies.
