Doctors and health leaders collaborate on future CQ health plans

The future of medical education and strong regional medical workforces were the cornerstone topics of a two-day Regional Medical Pathway (RMP) Showcase presented in Gladstone. 

CQUniversity, alongside RMP partners The University of Queensland and Central Queensland and Wide Bay Hospital and Health Services met with school leaders, high school students, industry leaders, allied health professionals, and the medical fraternity in Gladstone at three separate events to share future plans and developments to inspire pathway applications, network with local community members and to open the conversation about the future health workforce in the region.  

Guests of a dinner event also joined in on the conversation to discuss the future of medicine in the Central Queensland region during a panel discussion and heard from Emeritus Professor Paul Worley, inaugural National Rural Health Commissioner and former Dean of the School of Medicine at Flinders University – about how reframing the infrastructure, policies and narrative of regional medicine improved medical workforce retention in the Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network.

The University of Queensland Rural Clinical School Director, Associate Professor Riitta Partanen said she was pleased to announce the fulfilment of the long-held plan to develop a teaching and learning hub in Gladstone, thanks to the university’s successful 2023 bid to secure ten Commonwealth Supported Places in Central Queensland. 

“From 2025, up to 10 Doctor of Medicine (MD) students will rotate from Rockhampton on a regular basis, to undertake clinical immersions in the Gladstone Hospital," Associate Professor Partanen said. 

“These students will have the opportunity to live and breathe the community whilst experiencing learning medicine in another regional location.”  

CQUniversity Clinical Sciences Head of College, Associate Professor Paul Neilsen said the RMP program was already making a difference to health delivery in Central Queensland and Wide Bay, and adding Gladstone to the conversation was a positive step for that region.

“It was a great pleasure to be in Gladstone to connect with the potential next generation of doctors and network with local community members and to open the conversation about building workforce capacity in the region,” Associate Professor Neilsen said.

CQ Health Chief Executive Lisa Blackler said that it was exciting to play a part in securing the future of the local medical workforce.

“Recruiting qualified staff to our region is undoubtedly one of our biggest challenges," Ms Blacker said. 

“This program provides local talent with every opportunity to remain in our region for their studies and placements, significantly increasing the likelihood that they will choose to work here long-term.” 

Central Queensland and Wide Bay Hospital and Health Services Regional Medical Pathway Director Professor Alan Sandford AM was delighted to see the expansion of the RMP program within the Gladstone community. 

“This initiative further strengthens the community linkages, as well as offering increased rich experiential learning to our doctors of tomorrow," Professor Sandford said.

“This expansion is an extraordinary example of what can be achieved with the collaboration of partners in our universities and hospital and health services."

First established in 2019, the Regional Medical Pathway is a four-way partnership between CQUniversity, The University of Queensland and Central Queensland and Wide Bay Hospital and Health Services, working towards improved health outcomes for Central Queensland and Wide Bay regions through the provision of an integrated end-to-end training pathway for regional, rural and remote doctors.

The pathway is now in its third year and just achieved its highest intake of first-year students, with almost 50 percent local to the Central Queensland and Wide Bay regions, highlighting that aspiring doctors no longer need to leave the regions to undertake medical studies.

For more information on the program, visit Bachelor of Medical Science (Pathway to Medicine).