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No internships for foreign medical students in Australia
Universities considering sending graduates to India, HK and Singapore
By Jonathan Pearlman, For The Straits Times
SYDNEY: Foreign medical students in Australia are being hit hard by a growing shortage of internship places at hospitals here, leaving them unable to practise in this country after graduating.
Many of the hundreds that were affected last year, suggested a recent survey, were not aware that they would not be guaranteed training spots until they arrived, and say they would have studied elsewhere had they known earlier.
Fearing that this will drive many fee-paying international students elsewhere, local universities are now considering sending their graduates to other countries to do their internship, including Singapore.
'A shortage of internship places looms and new positions must be provided,' University of Sydney's dean of medicine Bruce Robinson told The Sydney Morning Herald. 'We have had a very patronising attitude to South-east Asia for some time. I think there is actually some enthusiasm that Australia might recognise we have something to learn from them.'
The shortage of training places is a result of the failure of the state health authorities to keep up with the rising numbers of medical graduates, which grew from about 1,600 in 2005 to 2,600 last year. The number is expected to top 3,100 in 2014.
Unable to ensure that hospitals had the staff and resources to provide sufficient training for interns, state and federal governments decided in 2009 that internships would be guaranteed only to Commonwealth-supported students from Australia and New Zealand - and not fee-paying foreign students.
The problem is certain to worsen, with the annual shortfall of training places across Australia expected to rise to 2,250 within the next three years. This could leave the 2,500 or so international students - who make up nearly a fifth of the total of 14,500 medical students in this country - without the means to get the accreditation to practise here.
Medical degree courses here usually last four to six years, after which graduates must complete a one-year internship in an authorised hospital to gain medical accreditation. Without such internships, they would need to get accreditation in their own home countries.
Universities have warned that the shortage will drive international students to other countries - reducing the much-needed income derived from the fees they pay.
International medical students are a vital source of revenue for cash-strapped universities in Australia, as they can pay more than A$200,000 (S$250,000) for their courses - as many as four times what their local counterparts fork out. Australian medical students pay just A$50,000 for a six-year degree and usually defer paying the fees until they enter the workforce, paying low interest rates on the loans.
'We run the risk of international students not wanting to come here any more,' Queensland University's dean of medicine David Wilkinson told ABC Radio earlier. 'That business, that revenue, without doubt cross-subsidises the education of Australian medical students.'
He added: 'Our medical school would not be able to survive under its current structure without the revenue from international fee-paying medical students.'
While the Australian Medical Association has been urging the government to guarantee training spots for fee-paying and international students, some medical student groups have called on the authorities to cut the size of intakes until more hospital internships can be arranged.
Universities, meanwhile, are looking at sending graduates to hospitals in India, Hong Kong and Singapore.
University of Sydney's Professor Robinson said a stint abroad would benefit the doctors, as they would gain overseas experience as well as exposure to different types of conditions and diseases.
He added: 'If it ever comes to the point where medical graduates are denied the opportunity to work as doctors because governments have not provided sufficient training places, it would be both a disaster for the individuals and a poor reflection on the state and federal governments who fund and manage health workforce training.'
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Universities considering sending graduates to India, HK and Singapore
By Jonathan Pearlman, For The Straits Times
SYDNEY: Foreign medical students in Australia are being hit hard by a growing shortage of internship places at hospitals here, leaving them unable to practise in this country after graduating.
Many of the hundreds that were affected last year, suggested a recent survey, were not aware that they would not be guaranteed training spots until they arrived, and say they would have studied elsewhere had they known earlier.
Fearing that this will drive many fee-paying international students elsewhere, local universities are now considering sending their graduates to other countries to do their internship, including Singapore.
'A shortage of internship places looms and new positions must be provided,' University of Sydney's dean of medicine Bruce Robinson told The Sydney Morning Herald. 'We have had a very patronising attitude to South-east Asia for some time. I think there is actually some enthusiasm that Australia might recognise we have something to learn from them.'
The shortage of training places is a result of the failure of the state health authorities to keep up with the rising numbers of medical graduates, which grew from about 1,600 in 2005 to 2,600 last year. The number is expected to top 3,100 in 2014.
Unable to ensure that hospitals had the staff and resources to provide sufficient training for interns, state and federal governments decided in 2009 that internships would be guaranteed only to Commonwealth-supported students from Australia and New Zealand - and not fee-paying foreign students.
The problem is certain to worsen, with the annual shortfall of training places across Australia expected to rise to 2,250 within the next three years. This could leave the 2,500 or so international students - who make up nearly a fifth of the total of 14,500 medical students in this country - without the means to get the accreditation to practise here.
Medical degree courses here usually last four to six years, after which graduates must complete a one-year internship in an authorised hospital to gain medical accreditation. Without such internships, they would need to get accreditation in their own home countries.
Universities have warned that the shortage will drive international students to other countries - reducing the much-needed income derived from the fees they pay.
International medical students are a vital source of revenue for cash-strapped universities in Australia, as they can pay more than A$200,000 (S$250,000) for their courses - as many as four times what their local counterparts fork out. Australian medical students pay just A$50,000 for a six-year degree and usually defer paying the fees until they enter the workforce, paying low interest rates on the loans.
'We run the risk of international students not wanting to come here any more,' Queensland University's dean of medicine David Wilkinson told ABC Radio earlier. 'That business, that revenue, without doubt cross-subsidises the education of Australian medical students.'
He added: 'Our medical school would not be able to survive under its current structure without the revenue from international fee-paying medical students.'
While the Australian Medical Association has been urging the government to guarantee training spots for fee-paying and international students, some medical student groups have called on the authorities to cut the size of intakes until more hospital internships can be arranged.
Universities, meanwhile, are looking at sending graduates to hospitals in India, Hong Kong and Singapore.
University of Sydney's Professor Robinson said a stint abroad would benefit the doctors, as they would gain overseas experience as well as exposure to different types of conditions and diseases.
He added: 'If it ever comes to the point where medical graduates are denied the opportunity to work as doctors because governments have not provided sufficient training places, it would be both a disaster for the individuals and a poor reflection on the state and federal governments who fund and manage health workforce training.'
[email protected]
