A review of characteristics and outcomes of Australia’s undergraduate medical education rural immersion programs

Table 1 Summary of program characteristics by university medical school

Medical school	Proportion enrolled students with rural-background^a	Target rural immersion opportunities for rural-background students	Actively screen for interest in rural practice^b	Immersion duration	Rotations into general practice in small communities
Stated a mission to train rural doctors
Deakin	25%	No	Placement preferences only	1 year	Yes
Flinders	25%	Yes	Yes	1 year	Yes
James Cook	40%	Yes	Yes	Wholly rural^c	Yes
Wollongong	Up to 70%	Yes	Yes	At least 1 and up to 3 years	Yes
Did not state a mission to train rural doctors
Adelaide	NS	NS	NS	1 year	Yes
ANU	NS	NS	Placement preferences only	1 year	NS
Bond	NS	NS	NS	1 year	NS
Griffith	25%	No	Yes	At least 1 and up to 3 years	Yes
Melbourne	25%	No	Yes	At least 1 and up to 3 years	Yes
Monash	25%	No	Placement preferences only	At least 1 and up to 3 years	Yes
Newcastle	NS	NS	NS	At least 1 and up to 3 years	Yes
Notre Dame	NS	NS	Yes	1 year	NS
Queensland	NS	NS	Placement preferences only	At least 1 and up to 3 years	No
Sydney	NS	NS	Placement preferences only	1 year	NS
Western Sydney	NS	NS	NS	1 year	Yes
University of New England	NS	NS	NS	At least 1 and up to 3 years	Yes
Tasmania	30%	No	Placement preferences only	Wholly rural^c^d	Yes
UNSW	25%	No	Placement preferences only	At least 1 and up to 3 years	NS
Western Australia	25%	NS	Yes	1 year	Yes

NS not stated, Placement preferences students nominate their preference for a rural placement annually. At Monash Universitylimited students can also self-nominate for rural training at course entry.
^aThe quota required by the Australian government policy is 25% in 2016
^bYes—interest screened at course entry or during the course, prior to the immersion opportunity
^cStudents undertake whole medical course in rural areas (mostly in large coastal regional centres)
^dStudents undertaken whole medical course as per ^c. with provision for 1 year in a town of 25,000 population

ISSN: 1478-4491