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Medical teaching in rural Australia: should we be concerned about the international medical graduate connection?
Author(s) -
Playford Denese E,
Maley Moira A L
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2008.tb01938.x
Subject(s) - workforce , img , work (physics) , rural area , medical education , medicine , economic growth , political science , nursing , engineering , mechanical engineering , pathology , computer science , economics , operating system
The two rural workforce strategies of rural clinical schools and deployment of international medical graduates (IMGs) geographically overlap in Australia's large expanse of under‐served rural and remote areas. We used the Rural Clinical School of Western Australia (RCSWA) as a model to examine the relative numbers of IMG clinical academics, and the contribution of IMGs to rural clinical school development and education. IMGs have established six of 10 rural clinical school sites, maintained an academic presence, and continue to staff the RCSWA in high proportions. In a fragile rural work ecology, WA's IMGs are contributing to both meeting current workforce needs and the education of future rural doctors. The “double debt” Australia owes to IMGs, stemming from the rich cross‐fertilisation of these two workforce strategies, should be acknowledged.