Deans warn: No more new places, schools

Filed in: News » 2010 » 09 » Deans Warn No More New Places »

Website: http://www.australiandoctor.com.au/articles/47/0C06CC47.asp

Date posted: 30.09.10

As quoted from Australian Doctor:

By Michael East

THERE should be no new medical schools until there is evidence of sufficient numbers of intern places for all graduating students, the peak representative body for medical school deans warns.

Speaking at the AMA’s Medical Training Summit today, Professor Nicholas Glasgow, member of the Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand, said the current state of play for medical students was unsustainable.

Professor Glasgow told the summit that a co-ordinated national program for interns was needed, along with more funding for supervisors and infrastructure, and greater use of clinical settings beyond public hospitals.

Until this was achieved, Professor Glasgow said, no increase in medical student numbers or new medical schools should be committed to.

“We think all students currently in the system should be given access to a high quality intern place, irrespective of the funding source,” he said.

“Until this can be guaranteed, then we cannot even start to think about increasing student numbers and medical schools.”

Lucrative tuition fees have enticed many universities to try to set up their own medical school.

Charles Sturt University has announced plans to start a new medical course on two of its campuses in rural NSW at a cost of $100 million.

Meanwhile, 3500 medical students were expected to graduate in 2013 despite only 2240 internships being available last year.

The Australian Medical Students Association echoed Professor Glasgow’s comments at the summit.

The number of medical schools in Australia is almost twice the WHO recommendation per capita for OECD countries, according to AMSA.

AMSA president Ross Roberts Thompson said the biggest losers in the current intern crisis were international students.

“They are likely to be denied internships in Tasmania, NSW and Queensland because priority is being given to domestic students. This is despite the fact that they pay up to $300,000 in course fees,” he said.

 


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Last modified: November 3, 2010 4:01 AM

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