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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Clinical pain neuroscientist talks about how the brain processes pain information
Persistent pain affects one in five Australians and costs the nation an estimated $73 billion per year in health system costs, lost productivity and other financial costs.
Persistent pain also has debilitating personal costs – negatively impacting quality of life and the ability to engage in meaningful work and life activities.
Despite the enormity of this problem, very few effective treatments exist with most showing only small to moderate improvements. New treatments are desperately needed. The group believes the best way to create impactful change is to work with people with lived experience of persistent pain to devise solutions with them, not for them.
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The Case for Embedded Pharmacy in Residential Aged Care
Embedded pharmacy in residential aged care has been successful in South Australia at the Tanunda Lutheran Home in the Barossa Valley. Julian Soriano talks about his pharmacy role in medication management and medication safety to deliver the best clinical care for residents.
In this segment, Julian talks about the traditional pharmacy model serving residential aged care and the limitations of the imprest process for dispensing medication. Soon into the project he saw the collaboration required with GPs and onsite nurses in dispensing medication for residents in end-of-life or palliative care. Julian sees the imprest process unable to support end-of-life residents, even being able to check the availability of medication.
But what most may not be aware of, is his rapid growth since starting the business in 2013 having just been in health care a few years earlier. Being part of a 2nd generation health care family, Shawn learnt from his father on site and at trade show visits overseas. Prior to HPA, he spent 2 years working in fit-outs of operating theatres, neo-natal and general population ICU, throughout being more fascinated with what he saw. -
Using human skin hair follicles to treat Alzheimer’s disease
Professor Michael Valenzuela is a science opinion leader, innovator and creative thinker with a career-long commitment to the prevention and treatment of dementia.
Following that he completed graduate medicine and medical training at the Prince of Wales Hospital. In 2012, he established the Regenerative Neuroscience Group at the University of Sydney, and in 2017 became the university’s first Professor of Regenerative Medicine.
Professor Valenzuela’s group discovered a new cell type with potential for regenerative medicine, a rare neural precursor cell found deep within the human hair follicle. He is the main inventor on several related patents and is the Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Skin2Neuron – a biotech company developing the first neurorestorative cell therapy for Alzheimer’s disease based on this work.
