With potential expansions to prac student payments, part-time study is also on the table for medical education reform.
Further reforms have been suggested by medical students to keep the wave of reforms rolling after independent MP Dr Monique Ryan’s proposal to expand prac placement payments to help with medical education accessibility,
The new reform suggestion that has gotten medical students hopeful for change is the proposal for medical schools to introduce the option of part-time study.
It’s an area that the Australian Medical Students Associated has long advocated for change in.
“Across Australia, students have been asking for more flexible medical school arrangements, acknowledging that medical school is notoriously laborious and financially draining, and even more so for students who come from underrepresented backgrounds in medicine,” AMSA president Melody Ahfock told The Medical Republic.
“It’s an acknowledgement of the current struggle students do face with the cost of living crisis and the change in demographic of medical students.”
Financial accessibility has been the primary catalyst for reform in medical education as of late, particularly with the rollout of the Commonwealth prac payment for students studying teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work degrees.
Dr Ryan’s amendment would see the payment scheme expanded to all care sector students, including medical students.
This financial burden has created an accessibility gap that is being touted as a reason for many potential doctors never being able to complete their studies.
“If you make it [studying medicine] full time, you are actually excluding certain people, and they are people who would make excellent doctors,” Victorian surgeon Dr Jill Tomlinson said.
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Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand have stated that reform to this issue is underway with talks of collaboration between medical schools to potentially implement more accessible curriculum structures within the next three years
‘Flexibility in the delivery of medical education is important as the Australian medical student cohort is increasingly diversified, including more older students with family responsibilities, more students who need to work as well as study, and more students with individual support needs who require additional time to complete their medical degree,’ Medical Deans CEO Kate Lynch told NewsGP.
According to Ms Ahfock, restructuring the medical curriculum would not be a panacea for the issues affecting medical students, but it would form an important part of a multi-faceted effort.
“Addressing inaccessibility of medicine is going to require a multi factorial approach, and part time, flexible options are certainly part of the solution, but can’t be the whole solution,” Ms Ahfock told TMR.
“Students should be given the choice as to whether they want to undertake part time or flexible study.
“It’s important that medical schools work collaboratively with medical students, clinics and hospitals to ensure that a high standard of education is maintained for part time options, and that students who do undertake these pathways have the same type of education as those who undertake full time study.”
