Calls for universities to allow part-time study option for medicine

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Future doctors are calling on universities to offer a part-time study option for medicine, saying the health workforce is missing out on students who can't afford to study full-time. Earlier this month a group of medical students at the University of Edinburgh became the first cohort of doctors in the United Kingdom to qualify through a part-time course. Medical deans in Australia are now reviewing ways to introduce more flexibility.

Transcript

00:00Juggling medical school and motherhood, Lisa Ross reached her breaking point last year.

00:09I actually had to make the decision for all of our mental health and lifestyle

00:17and for all of those reasons to pause my medical studies for a year.

00:22Lisa left her comfortable life in Horsham where she worked as a physiotherapist,

00:27moving her family to Geelong for her studies.

00:30As one of many mature aged medical students struggling to strike balance in a degree that's only offered full-time,

00:37she wrote to the Dean at Deakin University, pushing for the option to study part-time.

00:43If I was studying part-time, I could work a day or two a week.

00:47I could still be the mum that I want to be. I'd come out the end and I wouldn't be burnt out.

00:51It's an idea that's been floated in medical schools across the country.

00:55Some specialist colleges recently offering freshly minted doctors the option to train part-time.

01:02Medical deans hoping universities will follow suit.

01:06We've established a working party which are reviewing the evidence

01:10and identifying what's working well and what's not working quite so well in other countries.

01:15Universities are currently restrained by a quota the government sets on the number of medical students graduating each year.

01:23More Commonwealth supported places or a change to quotas would be needed to allow part-time study.

01:30It's likely to increase accessibility for students who do have care responsibilities, those with disabilities,

01:39those from rural and low-income backgrounds who are the doctors that Australia needs the most.

01:44The Australian Government Department of Education says it doesn't restrict medical students from studying part-time,

01:50but that it's working with the university sector to better understand the barriers.

01:54But medical students hope it doesn't deter medical schools from considering other strategies to achieve equity.

02:01Future doctors seeking to treat a chronic issue.

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