Building a medical career

The Federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, has officially opened the $3.5 million Rural Clinical School building in Albury-Wodonga.

The new facility is funded by the federal government to address the shortage of medical practitioners in rural areas, in the hope that graduates might be more likely to return to a rural environment to practise.

UNSW was the first university in Australia to set up a Rural Clinical School. The School started seven years ago in Albury-Wodonga and Wagga Wagga and quickly grew to have two other sites at Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour.

All undergraduate medical students are able to spend time in their final years at the Rural Clinical Schools, experiencing teaching in small groups and in varied clinical environments.

"The Faculty of Medicine has a strong commitment to rural areas. These close affiliations are a win for the students and for the rural communities," said the Dean, Professor Peter Smith, who attended the ceremony.

"There has been keen interest shown by the students in rural medicine as a result of these campuses," said Head of School, Professor Louis Pilotto.

Meanwhile, the first sod was turned recently at the new Rural Clinical School in Port Macquarie. The new building will allow more students to study at the campus.

For more information, go to the Rural Clinical School website