Two medical students will trial a six-day rural immersion in Alice Springs this November, forming the first cohort in a GPRA pilot testing whether short placements can encourage more doctors into community-based practice in the Top End.
GPRA president Dr Chris Dickie said penultimate-year medical students and members of the General Practice Students Network (GPSN) would be eligible for the Alice Springs Rural Immersion Initiative.
“[It] aims to boost hospital intern numbers and support future medical workforce supply in Alice Springs,” he said.
Ms Cailin Green from the University of Melbourne and Ms Ava Larsen from the University of Queensland were selected to participate in the pilot.
Over six days in November, the pair would be travelling to Tennant Creek Hospital with the Royal Flying Doctor Service and teams from the Alice Springs Hospital, visiting local primary care clinics, and shadowing hospital rounds.
A GPRA spokesperson told The Medical Republic the November pilot’s findings would inform a second round in April 2027, with success measured by feedback from both the hospital team and students themselves.
This included a post-immersion survey assessing participants’ likelihood of pursuing postgraduate or specialty training in Alice Springs or another rural or remote area.
“We will also track whether participants apply for an intern placement at Alice Springs Hospital and any resulting increases in intern applications,” the spokesperson said.
“Beyond this, we will consider feedback, funding models, and potential work with other hospitals and jurisdictions to promote these important rural immersion experiences.”
Annabel Tyne, senior medical education officer at NT Health, said the initiative would provide “hands-on clinical variety from day one” and prepare participants for a future career in rural and remote medicine.
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GPRA and the General Practice Students Network (GPSN) – with 4800 members across 21 clubs – also established the first GPSN club in the NT, to promote career pathways in general practice and rural generalism for medical students at Charles Darwin University and Flinders University.
“We want to ensure a career in primary care is front of mind for students from day one of medical school,” Dr Dickie said.
GPRA awarded 24 scholarships, worth more than $200,000, to doctors training in the NT over the previous three years and delivered additional education to more than 70 NT-based registrars through its annual registrars forum, Dr Dickie said.
The NT had long faced a GP drought, with remote communities like Nhulunbuy having their local general practices shut down.
Just 11% of specialist IMGs who went through AHPRA’s fast-track specialist scheme worked outside MM1 locations. Fewer than 1% were based in the NT.
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