New student accommodation buildings have been opened at Chinchilla Hospital, enhancing the rural placement experience for Griffith University medical students.
The initiative also aims to boost the town's essential healthcare services by attracting and retaining medical professionals, providing high-quality training and accommodation for the next generation or rural doctors.
Head of Griffith's School of Medicine and Dentistry, Professor Julian Archer, said the project reflected Griffith's commitment to immersing students in the local community.
"This facility will allow students to live and learn in the very environment where we hope they will choose to make a lasting impact," he said.
"Our final-year medical students are incredibly fortunate to spend time in this community, gaining invaluable rural healthcare experience in an immersive learning environment, with onsite living close to the hospital and patients, shaping their future careers."
The opportunity to live by the Chinchilla Hospital will also help students see how important healthcare in rural areas is, with Medical Services Southern Assistant Director Dr James Ware saying doctors who train in the country often return to provide their services to the wonderful communities they become a part of.
"I can attest from firsthand experience, having been trained in rural medicine and worked in the country for many years, that a love of rural medicine grew," he said.
"It's just fantastic having medical students training in local areas, rural areas, because we know that's how we're going to get them back."
Funded by the Queensland Government's Resources Community Infrastructure Fund in association with Rural Medical Education Australia and the Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service, the three purpose-built homes were constructed by a local builder.
