VICTORIA needs more medical schools

Victoria's need for more medical school places is more than a decade old, Border Division of General Practice chairman Bill Walton said yesterday.

Dr Walton said the situation arose because of the time needed to train new doctors prior to joining the workforce.

Dr Walton's comments came in response to a pledge of $30 million by Victorian State Premier Steve Bracks, for the contribution of additional medical school places, provided the Federal government was willing to allocate a greater share of medical places to Victoria.

Dr Walton said that he was of the opinion that the Bracks move came about as a result of powerful lobbying by interest groups keen on establishing medical schools in rural and regional Victoria.

However, Dr Walton tried to sound a cautious note by saying that bringing in teaching medical professionals would aggravate the situation.

“We need to have adequate training facilities in which these doctors can train and they need to have good access to both patients and teachers,” he said.

Rural Doctors Association of Victoria president Mike Moynihan said that they were considering all possible options.

By Neil Rao