The University of New England (UNE) as a partner in the Joint Medical Program (JMP), has launched an innovative medical education program that allows experienced rural health workers to train as doctors without leaving their jobs or communities.
The program acknowledges two conflicting realities. The regions need more doctors, but those most likely to stay in the regions after graduation – adults already living regionally, with mortgages and young families – cannot park their current lives for five years to study medicine full-time.
The Regional Health Professional Pathway (RHPP) is designed to provide a route into medicine for health professionals like nurses, paramedics, physiotherapists and pharmacists who have worked for at least two years in the Hunter New England Primary Health Network footprint.
Eight students with health backgrounds have enrolled in the inaugural 2026 intake.
“These students are people who are already embedded in their community, so they’re less likely to move to cities like Sydney or Newcastle when they graduate,” said Professor Michelle Guppy, UNE’s Head of School of Rural Medicine.
“We have designed the RHPP so that students can continue to work while they study. It lowers the barrier – not the academic barrier of entry, but just the life factor barrier of entry to a career in medicine.”
RHPP students complete the same five-year medical degree as traditional students, but through a flexible “learning in place” model. Most coursework is delivered online, with students attending just five intensive weeks on campus each year for anatomy labs, physical examinations and other hands-on components that cannot be taught remotely.
As an additional incentive, RHPP students are not required to sit the University Clinical Aptitude Test, normally a standard requirement for incoming medical students.
If they complete their medical degrees, the 2026 RHPP intake will make a significant contribution towards addressing the region’s critical shortage of medical practitioners.
Since 2012, UNE has graduated 780 doctors through the Joint Medical Program it shares with the University of Newcastle. These graduates are more likely to work regionally than graduates from urban areas. About 40 per cent of JMP students intend to practice in the regions after graduation.
The RHPP builds on this foundation by removing barriers that prevent experienced health professionals from retraining as doctors.
There is potential for the RHPP model can be expanded to other allied health professions, including radiography, occupational therapy and speech pathology. Kelsey advises there is already interest for the 2027 intake.
Addressing a critical shortage
There is an urgent need to improve recruitment of doctors prepared to work in rural areas.
The latest Needs Assessment by the Hunter New England & Central Coast Primary Health Network (PHN) found that in 2019-20, 31 per cent of adults could not access their preferred GP; 24 per cent waited longer than acceptable for an appointment; and 24 per cent experienced excessive waits for specialist care.
A quarter of the region’s general practices have closed their books to new patients entirely.
The region is served by 380 general practices and 1,730 GPs (including registrars), equating to 1,410 full-time equivalent positions. Across the PHN, there is an average of 110 GPs per 100,000 people, but distribution is uneven. The least-serviced local government areas include Gunnedah (57.5 GPs per 100,000 population), Liverpool Plains (79.0), Cessnock (79.7), Maitland (83.6), Dungog (92.1) and Muswellbrook (96.6).
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