Fifteen new students will soon begin their journey to become rural doctors, after they accepted offers into La Trobe University's Bachelor of Biomedical Science (Medical).
The students, who come from all over rural and regional Victoria and New South Wales, will commence their studies in March.
La Trobe Vice-Chancellor Professor John Dewar AO warmly congratulated the latest group of students to be selected to the program, and said they would be an asset to regional communities in years to come.
"Rural and regional communities have struggled to attract doctors for many years," Professor Dewar said.
"That issue has been exacerbated with the recent population growth resulting from an influx of city-dwellers to regional areas due to impacts of the pandemic.
"If the 15 students joining us today - together with 30 who are midway through the program, and many others down the track - take their skills back to areas like Hamilton, Swan Hill or Mildura, they will be a huge asset to those communities," Professor Dewar said.
The unique end-to-end rural medical program is designed to help solve Australia's rural doctor shortage.
It provides seven years of training across two universities - La Trobe University and the University of Melbourne - and three regional Victorian centres.
Students who successfully complete a three-year Bachelor of Biomedical Science (Medical) at La Trobe's Bendigo or Albury-Wodonga campus will gain guaranteed entry into the University of Melbourne's Doctor of Medicine postgraduate program in Shepparton.
