Doctor training hub for Burnie

TASMANIAN doctors who want to train and work in rural areas will soon be able to undertake their speciality work at a new hub in Burnie.

The expansion of the University of Tasmania’s postgraduate opportunities is expected to help more doctors stay in regional areas because they will not have to relocate to finish their training.

UTAS has secured $1 million in federal funding to establish a new Rural and Regional Postgraduate Training Hub in the North-West.

Under the model, more speciality training will be offered at the Burnie and Launceston hospitals and surrounding general practices.

The hub will also help local medical students and graduates to map out a future career in the region.

Associate Professor Deb Wilson, a local specialist anaesthetist based at the University’s Rural Clinical School, has been appointed clinical director of the Rural and Regional Postgraduate Training Hub.

“Specialising is an essential part of a doctor’s journey in becoming a fully accredited professional,” Associate Professor Wilson said.

“Presently, medical professionals already living and working in the North and North-West are often unable to undertake all their postgraduate training here, so they choose to relocate.

“It is often difficult to recruit and retain medical specialists in rural and regional areas of Tasmania because they are more likely to remain in the area where they trained.

“Work is currently under way to recruit a team of professionals to lay the groundwork for the accredited specialist training programs.”

The hub is one of 26 to be established across rural and regional Australia.